Braves Send Reynaldo López To Citizens Bank Park Mound, Hoping to Even Series

The Atlanta Braves are reeling a bit.

To lose a winnable matchup like that - by leaving in a starter too long, just to watch him give up a three-run homer, followed by yet another homer the next inning that took Philly from a deficit to a lead - undoubtedly hurt.

But there's no dwelling on the loss, because Atlanta's got another game to play and hopefully win. Last night's loss pushed Philly's divisional lead back up to six games, and so Atlanta needs to make up as much ground as they can this weekend both to keep Philly within distance and to hold their own lead in the NL Wild Card over the New York Mets, currently just three games.

To do that, Atlanta's turning to Reynaldo López (7-4, 2.02), taking the mound opposite lefty Ranger suárez (11-5, 2.82) for the Phillies.

Lineups for the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, August 30th

Here's how the Braves will line up tonight:

2B Whit Merrifield
RF Jorge Soler
DH Marcell Ozuna
1B Matt Olson
LF Ramón Laureano
CF Michael Harris II
SS Orlando Arcia
C Sean Murphy
3B Gio Urshela

López is making his third start of the season against Philly, hoping to keep the good times rolling: In his first two outings, totaling eleven innings, he's allowed just one earned run on seven hits, with four walks to sixteen strikeouts. While several of the big bats haven't had success against López, with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper combining to go 0-13 in their careers, Nick Castellanos is batting .324 with three RBI off of López in 37 career at-bats.

Here is the Philly lineup:

DH Kyle Schwarber
SS Trea Turner
1B Bryce Harper
RF Nick Castellanos
2B Bryson Stott
C J.T. Realmuto
LF Brandon Marsh
3B Edmundo Sosa
CF Johan Rojas

Suárez is looking for elusive success against Atlanta. Despite having a 1-1 record and a 3.21 ERA in his last five starts against the Braves, his two starts in 2024 have totaled eight runs on nine hits in ten innings, striking out fourteen against just three walks but also allowing three homers. The good news for Suárez is that two of the three Atlanta homers are by second baseman Ozzie Albies, who won't be back until after this series. The third was from Marcell Ozuna, who is batting .278 with a .816 OPS in his career off of Suárez.

How to Watch the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, August 30th

Tonight's game is set for a 6:40 PM ET first pitch from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Braves broadcast can be found on Bally Sports Southeast, while the radio call is on 680AM/93.7 FM The Fan in the Atlanta market and on Atlanta Braves Radio Network affiliates across Braves Country.