There’s no place like home; at least the Braves have to be hoping so. Coming off a subpar showing in California, the Braves are back at SunTrust Park tonight. With any luck, they’ll make the Mets wish they’d never come to town. Mike Foltynewicz will lead the charge against New York, with Zack Wheeler pitching in opposition. After Monday’s first release of the All-Star votes, the Braves can hopefully display some of the swagger which was present earlier in the season. Superstar sparkplug Ronald Acuña should be starting his journey back to the Braves this week, and this will eventually provide an offensive boost. In the meantime, a successful showing against Wheeler could do wonders for the team. Ozzie Albies, the leading vote getter amongst National League second basemen, can hopefully shake his struggles and build off the home run he smacked in the series finale against the Dodgers. As he sets the tone at the top of the lineup, a surge from him could cause a run-producing ripple effect. If you need any additional info about the underlying subtext of tonight’s game, we wholeheartedly endorse the links below. PREVIEW | LINEUPS<doc-sep>The New York Mets (28-34) begin a new road trip starting with a brief two-game series with the Atlanta Braves (37-28). The Mets will look to string some wins together after snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Yankees on Sunday night. If not for the heroics of Todd Frazier and Seth Lugo, the Mets would have had their second winless homestand of 2018. Tough losses to the Yankees on Friday and Saturday nights thanks in part to long balls from Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar sunk the Mets’ chances at stealing some games from their cross-town rivals with the best record in baseball. The Mets would end up salvaging their otherwise dreadful homestand as Frazier haunted his former team with a go-ahead two-run bomb in the fifth inning, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead for the rest of the night. Lugo continued to make his case to be a permanent fixture in the rotation with six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts. Two of the more important power bats in the lineup are currently ice cold. Michael Conforto is mired in an 0-for-17 slump, while Jay Bruce is 0-for-13. Adrian Gonzalez, who had a 1-for-19 slump of his own and was hitting as low as seventh in the lineup, was cut from the roster to make room for Dominic Smith, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas presumably to get most of the reps at first going forward. It appears as though the Mets front office is trying to send a wake-up call to the offense with the release of Gonzalez. However with Yoenis Cespedes suffering a setback in his rehab stint with Double-A Binghamton and Asdrubal Cabrera dealing with hamstring tightness, options are increasingly thinning out. It may be hard to believe as it’s only the middle of June, but the Mets will be making their final trip to SunTrust Park this season. Freddie Freeman, currently leading the NL in All-Star voting, has carried the Braves offense this past week, hitting .385 with three home runs. Ozzie Albies continues to mash after slugging his 15th homer of the season in L.A., leading all MLB second basemen in home runs. The Mets will be missing Julio Teheran this time around, as the Met killer was placed on the 10-day DL with a right thumb contusion. Probable Pitchers Tuesday, June 12: Zack Wheeler vs. Mike Foltynewicz , 7:35 p.m. on SNY Wheeler (2018): 63 IP, 62 K, 22 BB, 7 HR, 4.67 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.38 WHIP Wheeler threw his best start of 2018 last Wednesday, going seven scoreless with five strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed despite no run support in a 1-0 loss to the Orioles. Wheeler will be looking for a repeat performance and some runs from his teammates to earn his first win since April 29. Foltynewicz (2018): 74 IP, 88 K, 33 BB, 5 HR, 2.31 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 1.19 WHIP Foltynewicz is having easily the best season of his career, with career bests in ERA, FIP, and WHIP, but is also on pace to allow the most walks in his career with 33 through just 13 starts. Foltynewicz threw a complete game two-hit shutout of the Nationals on June 1, racking up a season-high 11 strikeouts. Wednesday, June 13: Jacob deGrom vs. Mike Soroka , 12:10 p.m. on SNY deGrom (2018): 80.1 IP, 106 K, 20 BB, 16 HR, 1.57 ERA, 2.08 FIP, 1.00 WHIP deGrom was beat by the home run ball Friday night, as Brett Gardner tagged him with a two-run jack that broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning. Despite the homer, deGrom kept the mighty Yankee lineup in check for most of the night in his longest outing of the season. Soroka (2018): 14.2 IP, 15 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 3.68 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 1.70 WHIP Soroka, a first round selection by Atlanta in the 2015 draft, will be coming off the DL to make his fourth major league start after dealing with a right shoulder strain that sidelined the Canadian righty for nearly a month. Soroka faced the Mets in his first career start on May 1 going six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts. Prediction: Mets split with the Braves.<doc-sep>The Braves will look to a division rival to help kick their offense back into gear. After an unsavory West Coast road trip that saw the Braves’ bats largely kept in check, they return home to play a two-game set against a Mets team that is primarily hoping to avoid injuries. Since neither the Braves nor the Nationals have capitalized on their mutually less-than-stellar play, there is still a tie for first in the National League East. With the Nats traveling to New York to play the Yankees, this could be a good chance for the Braves to reclaim the division lead. Meanwhile, the Mets have endured a brutal stretch in which they have won only 17 of their last 50 games after an 11-1 start. They currently sit in fourth and limp into Atlanta after going 2-8 in their last 10 games. The Braves will give the ball to Mike Foltynewicz to mow down the Mets, and he is as good of a bet as any to keep New York’s bats quiet. Over his last 6 starts, Folty is 3-2 with a 0.97 ERA / 2.32 FIP, while averaging 10.95 K/9. During his first 12 starts of 2018, Folty has already eclipsed his career-high mark in fWAR (currently 1.9). His candidacy as an NL All-Star, where he could potentially join several of his teammates who are leading the voting in the early stages, grows with each successful start. After Jason Vargas was scratched from his start, Zack Wheeler will instead take the mound for New York. Wheeler comes into this game with a 2-4 record and 4.57 ERA / 3.77 FIP. Tonight is the first game of a 14-game stretch against teams with losing records. With the season soon to shift to summer, and with off-days being few and far between, this is an important run of games. However, they can only play one at a time, and need to pounce on a brittle Mets team tonight to start this run on a good note. Game Info Date: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 Time: 7:35 pm EDT Location: SunTrust Park, Atlanta, GA TV: ESPN, Fox Sports Southeast, MLB.tv Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM, WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM<doc-sep>
The Atlanta Braves return to SunTrust Park on Tuesday where they will open a brief two-game series against the New York Mets. The Braves just completed a 2-4 road trip but are still in a virtual tie with the Washington Nationals atop the NL East standings with a 37-28 record. The Mets snapped an eight-game losing streak on Sunday and are 7.5 games back. Atlanta has won 7-of-10 against New York this season. The Mets’ 11-1 start is all but a distant memory as the team has battled multiple injuries and inconsistent play. The team will look a bit different this time around when the series begins on Tuesday. New York released Adrian Gonzalez following Sunday’s game and promoted Dominic Smith from Triple-A. The team took a flyer on Gonzalez as a place holder this past offseason after he was released by the Braves following the Matt Kemp trade with the Dodgers. Gonzalez hit .237/.299/.373 in 54 games but had slumped badly in June. Smith was hitting .260/.343/.370 with two home runs at Triple-A. The Mets had been hoping that Yoenis Cespedes would be ready to return from a hip flexor injury that has sidelined him since the middle of May. However, Cespedes suffered a setback in his rehab last week and his timetable is now uncertain. New York could also be without second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera who left Sunday’s game with hamstring tightness. The team is hopeful that he will avoid a DL stint but his availability against the Braves is in question. Tuesday, June 12, 7:35 p.m. ET (Fox Sports Southeast, ESPN) Zach Wheeler (2018: 11 GS, 2-4 W-L, 22.4 K%, 7.9 BB%, 4.57 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 4.03 xFIP) Georgia native Zack Wheeler will get the nod in the opener for the Mets on Tuesday. Wheeler struggled in May but has turned the corner in June putting together quality starts in two straight outings. Wheeler allowed just three hits over seven shutout innings and struck out five in his last start against the Orioles. Wheeler has performed well in his career against Atlanta posting a 2.94 ERA in eight starts. Mike Foltynewicz (2018: 13 GS, 5-4 W-L, 28.7 K%, 10.8 BB%, 2.31 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 3.49 xFIP) Atlanta will counter with right-hander Mike Foltynewicz who is looking to continue a string of good performances. Foltynewicz has been lights out for Atlanta all season and has allowed a total of four runs over his last six starts. He took a loss in his last start allowing five hits and two runs over five innings against the Padres. Foltynewicz has allowed two earned runs or less in 12 of his 13 starts this season. Wednesday, June 13, 12:10 p.m. ET (Fox Sports Southeast, MLB Network) Jacob deGrom (2018: 13 GS, 4-1 W-L, 33.3 K%, 7.2 BB%, 1.57 ERA, 2.08 FIP, 2.51 xFIP) Jacob deGrom will get the call in Wednesday’s series finale. DeGrom is off to a dominant start in 2018 posting a 1.57 ERA in 13 starts. He allowed four hits and two earned runs over eight innings in his last outing against the Yankees. DeGrom has faced Atlanta three times this season 11 hits and one earned run in 18 innings. Mike Soroka (2018: 3 GS, 1-1 W-L, 21.7 K%, 5.8 BB%, 3.68 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 2.87 xFIP) Mike Soroka will come off the disabled list on Wednesday and will make his first start since May 12. Soroka spent almost a month on the DL due to shoulder inflammation. Soroka allowed eight hits and five runs although only one was earned over just 4 2/3 innings in his last start against the Marlins. He limited the Mets to six hits and one run over six innings in his major league debut back on May 1.