The Atlanta Braves would not be one game away from clinching a seventh straight postseason berth without the terrific pitching performance it got on Saturday night out of Reynaldo Lopez. Fresh off his second post All-Star Game stint on the injured list, Lopez went six innings, allowing two hits and one run, while striking out nine Kansas City Royals hitters and walking no one. Atlanta is one game away!
With one more Braves win or an Arizona Diamondbacks defeat, Atlanta will be back in the postseason as one of three NL Wild Card teams. Atlanta closes out its series finale with Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, they will have a doubleheader at home vs. the New York Mets with potentially playoff berths and postseason seeding on the line. Arizona has one left with the San Diego Padres.
Altanta skipper is calling on 40-something Charlie Morton to toe the rubber for the Braves in a potential clincher. All signs point to some combination of Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach getting the start in one or both of the doubleheaders on Monday. Max Fried will not pitch again this regular season. The same principle applies to his fellow All-Star teammate Lopez. Do not blow this!
On the season, Lopez is 8-3 in 25 starts with a 2.00 ERA over 134.2 innings to go with 146 strikeouts.