A pair of National League East rivals will face off on Thursday when the host Atlanta Braves And Philadelphia Phillies open a four-game series and meet for the first time since facing off in the NL Division Series last fall
THE Phillies were a playoff team in 2022 but eliminated 101 win brave in four games and reached the World Series
THE brave became the second NL team to reach 30 wins this season on Wednesday by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 on Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly. Atlanta salvaged the three-game series final against the NL’s other 30-game winner to move to 3-3 on its current 10-game homestand
THE Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 10 innings Wednesday on Alec Bohm’s single, giving Philadelphia a three-game set victory. The victory marked the Phillies‘ ninth win from behind of the season
Philadelphia had trailed 5-0 entering the sixth, making it the biggest deficit in the league. Phillies has overcome this season
The pitching game for Game 1 of the series features Philadelphia right-hander Aaron Nola (4-3, 4.31 ERA) against Atlanta rookie left-hander Dylan Dodd (2-1, 6.46).
Nola will make his 11th start of the season. In his last start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, he picked up a win after going seven innings and giving up two runs on four hits with one walk and a season-high 10 strikeouts.
“Filling the zone,” Nola said of what led to his success. “My fastball was really good and my curveball was sharper.”
Nola had great success against the brave. He is 15-10 with a 3.39 ERA in 30 career starts against Atlanta and beat the brave more than any club. He went 3-2 with a 3.67 ERA against Atlanta last year in five starts spanning 34 1/3 innings
Dodd, a 2021 third-round draft pick, has split time between Atlanta and Triple-A Gwinnett this season. He made three starts with the brave, with the most recent coming May 4 in Miami. Against the Marlins, the 24-year-old Dodd allowed three runs on eight hits with three walks and one strikeout in six innings en route to the win.
“I felt like I fought a lot of baserunners,” Dodd said. “In the end, I was quite happy with the result.”
In six minor league starts this season, Dodd is 1-3 with a 6.67 ERA. This will be his first career appearance against the Phillies
Atlanta’s Austin Riley had two doubles on Wednesday and needs just one RBI to have 500 hits, 100 home runs and 300 RBIs for his career. According to Elias Sports Bureau, only three players in franchise history have reached those milestones in fewer games than Riley – Fred McGriff in 412 games, Bob Horner in 429 and Eddie Mathews in 456. Riley played in 499 games.
Philadelphia reliever Craig Kimbrel, who began his career with the brave, is one stop short of No. 400. In his last 13 appearances, Kimbrel has struck out 24 of the 47 batters he has faced (51.1%) and walked just four. Earlier this season, ex-Brave Kenley Jansen made his 400th career save against his former club
–Field-Level Media