ATLANTA — For the better part of two weeks, the Atlanta Braves have been almost as likely to have a day off, planned or not, as they have been to play a game. And when they have played in this stretch, the results have rarely been good.
So that made yet another day away from the field not such bad news for the Braves — a team near the top of the MLB standings but struggling on the field while dealing with multiple injuries to key players — and their fans.
The series finale between Atlanta and the San Francisco Giants scheduled for Thursday night at Truist Park was postponed at midday due to rain and will be made up later this summer.
The three-game set was supposed to be the Giants’ only visit to Atlanta this season, but both teams had an off day scheduled for Monday, Aug. 31, so the last game will be made up that night. The Giants open a three-game series against the host Pittsburgh Pirates the following day, when the Braves will begin a two-game set against the host Washington Nationals.
The Giants (31-43) have won three games in a row after taking the first two of the series against the Braves (46-27). Both games were both completed Wednesday after the opener was suspended in the second inning Tuesday night due to rain. The Giants won the suspended game 7-2, then beat Atlanta 7-5 in the regularly scheduled game to complete what became a split doubleheader.
Atlanta sits atop the National League East Division standings and entered Thursday with a 6 1/2-game lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies, but the Braves have lost six of their past seven games in what has been their roughest stretch of the season so far.
Atlanta won 18 of its first 21 series this year, but since completing a three-game sweep of the Pirates at Truist Park on June 7, the Braves have dropped two games to the Chicago White Sox (a third contest at Rate Field was rained out and rescheduled for August) and two of three to the New York Mets at Citi Field before faring no better at home versus the Giants, who are in their first season with former University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as their manager.
Next up for the Braves is another scheduled three-game series at home against the NL Central’s first-place Milwaukee Brewers (45-27), who entered Thursday with a five-game lead over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. The scheduled starting pitchers for Friday night’s game are Atlanta left-hander Martín Pérez (5-3, 2.90 ERA) and Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (8-2, 1.34).