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It’s Awesome! A. J. Hinch Appointed As The New Head Coach For Atlanta Braves Starting Tuesday night, the Atlanta Braves will take on the Chicago Cubs in a three-game series at Wrigley Field to kick off a six-game road trip. Right-hander Javier Assad will start for the Cubs, while Atlanta’s Charlie Morton will get the start.
The Braves won two of the three games when the two clubs played at Truist Park a week ago. Before escaping a sweep with a 3-0 victory on Monday night, Atlanta dropped the series finale to Chicago and then dropped the first three games of a four-game set against the Padres.
Last Wednesday, Morton took on Assad and labored, giving up three walks, three hits, and three runs in just three innings. Morton walked more than two batters in a start for the first time since April 8—it was also his shortest start of the season. In his nine career starts at Wrigley Field, Morton has a 5.86 ERA.
The season opener for Javier Assad has not received enough attention. With nine starts under his belt, Assad’s 1.49 ERA ranks third in the majors, behind only fellow teammate Shota Imanaga and lefty Ranger Suarez of the Phillies. Assad equaled his career high with seven strikeouts on Wednesday while containing the Braves’ lineup to just four hits over six scoreless innings.
Marcell Ozuna is coming into Tuesday’s series start riding a 13-game hitting run. This season, he stands alone among big league players in having multiple hitting streaks of ten games or more. With 14 home runs in the doubleheader, Ozuna leads the National League. During the doubleheader on Monday, Ronald Acuña Jr. recorded four hits, two of which were triples. In his two games at Truist Park against the Cubs, he went 1 for 8.
Austin Riley is still not cleared to bat, despite participating in fielding exercises and throwing on the field on Monday. Riley hasn’t played in the last eight games since May 12 at New York due to side pain.
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