ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr. stirred Philadelphia fans last weekend. Bryce Harper will have a chance to do the same to Atlanta fans as the Phillies and Braves spend this weekend playing a three-game series that could go a long way toward determining who will win what has become a very interesting National League East race.
The Braves (86-61) will enter Friday night’s series opener with a four-game lead over the second-place Phillies (82-65). Atlanta owns the tiebreaker courtesy of the season series it clinched while splitting a four-game series last weekend in Philadelphia.
How to watch
Atlanta: BravesVision (TV) and 680 The Fan/93.7 FM (All games)
Philadelphia: NBC Sports Philadelphia (TV all games); 94.1 WIP (Friday/Saturday) and 1210 WPHT (Sunday)
Pitching matchups
Friday: RHP Aaron Nola vs. LHP Chris Sale
Sale will face the Phillies for the fourth time this season -- and the second time in a week. He's 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 19 innings against the Phils through those first three outings. That includes last Friday, when he limited Philadelphia to two runs over six innings in a 5-2 win at Citizens Bank Park.
Nola, meanwhile, will also be looking to replicate his performance against the Braves from last weekend. The veteran right-hander tossed seven innings of one-run ball on Sunday afternoon before a bullpen meltdown left him with a no-decision.
While Sale (14-9, 2.10 ERA, 184 strikeouts) has been putting together another Cy Young-caliber campaign, Nola -- who has a 2.31 ERA over his past eight outings -- has seemingly turned things around after more than a year of struggles.
Saturday: LHP Jesús Luzardo vs. RHP Tyler Mahle
Not only has Luzardo been perhaps the best pitcher on the planet for the past three months, but he’s coming off the best start of his career on Monday against the Braves. The left-hander struck out 12 while throwing a two-hit shutout for the first complete game of his career.
Luzardo is 10-1 with a 1.70 ERA over his past 16 starts dating back to June 10. That’s the best ERA in the Majors during that span, and the Phillies are 14-2 in those games.
Mahle, though, has been every bit as sharp since arriving in Atlanta at the Trade Deadline. He has a 1.24 ERA in six starts with the Braves after putting up a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts with the Giants to begin the season.
Sunday: RHP Andrew Painter vs. RHP Grant Holmes
Holmes may have earned himself a postseason start with the six scoreless innings he threw against the Phillies on Sunday. The right-hander has allowed just three hits while tossing nine scoreless innings this month. He threw three perfect innings before rain prevented him from continuing his start against the Nationals on Sept. 2.
Holmes has posted a 2.83 ERA over 12 starts since the start of July. He has a 2.70 ERA in three starts against Philadelphia this year.
Painter began this month by limiting the D-backs to two hits over seven scoreless innings. But the rookie stumbled Monday, allowing the Astros five runs and 10 hits over five innings. It marked the second time in five starts he has allowed five earned runs or more.
The Braves will be seeing the young Philadelphia hurler for the third time this season. They tallied three runs over four innings against him on April 19 at Citizens Bank Park. They then tagged him for five runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings on April 24 in Atlanta.
Storylines to watch
Phillies
• Kyle Schwarber enters the weekend with an MLB-leading 44 home runs. He's homered off of each of Atlanta's three starters this weekend, though his overall numbers against each aren't spectacular. He's 5-for-22 (.227) with two homers vs. Sale, 6-for-22 (.273) with two homers vs. Mahle and 2-for-10 (.200) with a home run vs. Holmes.
• Harper is the only Phillie to have played in all 147 games this season. He's 15 away from playing in all 162 for the first time in his 15-year career.
As for Friday's matchup, Harper has not had much success against Sale, especially this year. He went 0-for-9 with six strikeouts in their first three meetings this season. Harper is just 2-for-18 (.111) against Sale overall, and one of those hits was an infield single on a slow roller back to the mound.
Braves
Acuña hit a pair of home runs during last weekend’s series in Philadelphia. The most memorable was the game-tying three-run homer he hit against Alex McFarlane in the eighth inning of Sunday’s Atlanta win. The 2023 NL MVP stared at the homer and then began a slow trot that included him doing his customary Euro step in front of third base. He then went to the top dugout step to mockingly request a curtain call from Phillies fans
Acuña leads the Braves with a 1.105 OPS against the Phillies this year. Michael Harris ranks second with a 1.080 OPS. But Philadelphia has had Drake Baldwin’s number, limiting him to a .571 OPS.
Matt Olson has hit just .228 with a .536 OPS over 31 games going back to Aug. 8.
The Braves have outscored the Phillies 44-27 while winning seven of the 10 matchups this year. Six of those games were played in April, before Philadelphia had Don Mattingly replace Rob Thomson as manager.