The Atlanta Braves (77-49) are the top dogs in the National League East, but tonight they begin a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals (73-53) at 8:15 p.m. who are one game behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central division. The game can be live streamed here; Braves fans can listen to the game on 93.7 FM, while Cardinals fans can listen in on KMOX 1120.
The Braves took a huge hit literally and figuratively yesterday during an afternoon game with the New York Mets. Outfielder Jason Heyward was rocked in the face by a Jon Niese pitch that broke his jaw and will knock him out of action for four to six weeks.
After struggling mightily for most of the season, Heyward livened up after being placed at the top of the order. In 23 games as the leadoff hitter he registered a 1.005 OPS, with 15 RBI, and led Atlanta to a 19-4 record in that span.
They could also be without Justin Upton tonight, who has missed the past two games with a back strain suffered while warming up. With those two bats out of the lineup, the onus falls on Paul Maholm (9-9, 4.41 ERA) to pick up the slack and tame a hard-hitting Cardinals lineup.
Among the sluggers in St. Louis' lineup like Matt Holliday and Allen Craig, lies a candidate for the National League batting title, catcher Yadier Molina. He enters tonight's game batting .332, and is 10-for-27 in the six games he's played since recovering from knee troubles.
He will be catching Joe Kelly (4-3, 3.01 ERA), who has gone 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA in seven starts this season. St. Louis has only lost one game started by Kelly this year, and the team that beat them was Atlanta. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said he is very happy with the way Kelly's pitched in 2013.
"He's stepped up and really taken advantage of it," Matheny said. "You can tell he can't wait to get the ball."
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