Sept. 19 – The Atlanta Braves will try to improve their chances of making the playoffs by finishing off a three-game series with the host Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.
Marcell Ozuna hit a double in Game 2 of the series on Wednesday and gave Atlanta a 7-1 win, scoring his first home run in 27 games. Ozuna also drove in a double, giving him his 100th RBI for the season. Ozuna is now two homers away from achieving 40 home runs and 100 RBI for the second consecutive season.
The veteran designated hitter is hitting .213 with 11 home runs and 22 RBIs through the first two months of the 2023 season.
“It means a lot,” Ozuna said of his upcoming success. “And it’s special to me.”
Warriors head coach Brian Snitker said: “It’s amazing. He could be another 40-year-old and 100-year-old player. From last year, no one would have thought that. I feel for this guy, he takes pride in everything he does and his perseverance in it, and I know his teammates really appreciate it too.”
Atlanta (82-70) is two games behind the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League’s final two wild-card spots.
“Standings, we’re not worried about that,” Ozuna said. “As a player, we don’t worry about that. We just go out there and have fun and win games. We just have to win games and not worry about, ‘Oh, the Phillies are up by 10 games, the Mets are up by one or two. Whatever they do, we just worry about winning games, and if we can’t win games, we’re not going to catch them.
Cincinnati (74-79) lost to Atlanta on Wednesday and is officially out. The Reds originally had aspirations of making the playoffs in 2024, but because of injuries and a layoff that began in spring training, they are still a ways off.
The team lost star infielder Matt McClain to a shoulder injury in spring training. First baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand broke his hand a month into the season, center fielder T.J. Friedel was on the injured list three times and third baseman Noelve Martín was suspended 80 games for violating Major League Baseball’s anti-doping policy.
Additionally, four of the five Cincinnati pitchers who have made the most starts this year are currently on the injured list.
The Reds started the season 14-10 but never got better. They spent the second half of the season trying to get to .500. After their recent loss to the Warriors, Cincinnati will need to win seven of their final nine games to even the mark this season.
“It won’t change anything for us,” said manager David Bell. “Obviously, that’s the goal and the only thing that matters. But not right now. It’s not going to change our approach for the rest of the games. I’m very confident with the players we have and we’ll continue to play as hard as we have all year.”
The Braves will field left-hander Chris Sale (17-3, 2.35 ERA) in the deciding game of the series. If the National League Cy Young Award favorite starts three more games and wins them all, he can reach 20 wins.
The Sale have won seven consecutive games over their last 13 starts, dating back to a 1-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox on June 27.
The eight-time All-Star will face Cincinnati for the second time in his career. On June 1, 2023, he represented the Boston Red Sox in 3 2/3 innings against the Reds, allowing one run on five hits and then he left the game due to a scapula stress reaction and missed two more games.
The Reds will face right-hander Julian Aguirre (2-0, 4.88 ERA), who is making his seventh start of his rookie season. Aguirre allowed three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings of a road win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday. He will face Atlanta for the first time.
–Visual-level media
