Another series Jawaan Taylor Jersey , another opponent sitting at the top of its division.
That’s the scenario for the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend as they welcome the Atlanta Braves, who lead the National League East, for a three-game series at Busch Stadium starting Friday.
And Atlanta (45-34) will be a stronger team offensively for the series. Prized rookie outfielder Ronald Acuna will be activated off the 10-day disabled list for Friday night’s game and should slot right into the lineup.
The 21-year-old Acuna, who missed a month with a right knee injury suffered on May 27 in Boston, hit .265 with five homers and 13 RBIs in his first 117 big league at-bats. Acuna recorded a solid .779 OPS, although his 10 walks and 37 strikeouts suggests he needs to gain a bit more control of the strike zone.
Acuna’s return at least tempers worries about the status of center fielder Ender Inciarte, who left Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to Cincinnati when he felt discomfort near his left oblique. Should Inciarte have to miss any time, Acuna could bat near the top of the lineup.
The Braves missed a chance to extend their division lead during a six-game homestand against two last-place teams. They lost two of three to Baltimore, which has the worst record in baseball, and dropped two of three to Cincinnati, which isn’t playing like a last-place team at the moment with nine wins in 10 games.
“We didn’t play up to our capabilities 100 percent,” Atlanta starting pitcher Sean Newcomb said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You’re not going to every day. I know we’re going to come back out at St. Louis and be pretty strong Josh Oliver Jersey , pitching and offensively.”
The Braves will have to be strong to deal with Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas (8-2, 2.69 ERA), who has been one of baseball’s best free-agent finds this year. Signed after three successful years in Japan, Mikolas has put together an All-Star resume with St. Louis.
He is coming off a 3-2 win Saturday in Milwaukee, giving up only three hits and two runs to the NL Central leaders in a 6 2/3-inning effort. Mikolas walked two and fanned five, giving him 71 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 97 innings.
Mikolas has faced Atlanta just once in his career, throwing two shutout innings in relief six years ago when he pitched for San Diego.
Julio Teheran (5-5, 4.52) will continue a season-long search for consistency as he starts for the Braves. After tossing six no-hit innings on June 17 in a win over San Diego, Teheran was belted around Saturday for seven runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 7-5 loss to Baltimore.
The veteran right-hander has made five career starts against the Cardinals, going 1-3 with a 3.86 earned run average. Two players who have hurt him are Matt Carpenter, who is 6-for-12 with two homers, and Marcell Ozuna Deandre Baker Jersey , who is batting .405 with three homers in 42 career at-bats against Teheran.
St. Louis (42-37) had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday with a 5-1 loss to Cleveland.
Hindsight is a great thing, and looking back on any professional draft can make organizations look like absolute fools or geniuses, and today, we are going to shine the light on these choices over the past eight years.Some busts come as a result of lack of talent, hard work, production or off the field issues, but there have been plenty in NFL history as a result of a various number of these factors, but over the past number of years, there have been some very glaring issues. Late round surprises, on the other hand, aren’t as big of a surprise, as there are four rounds of these to choose from http://www.newyorkgiantsteamonline.com/ … nes-jersey , and these players often have more motivation than the top picks, as they feel the need to prove themselves, and this has resulted in many superstars (Tom Brady, Antonio Brown, and countless others) coming from deep in the draft.So sit back and read along as we look back over the past several NFL Drafts and analyze 10 first-round busts and 10 late-round surprises.(Authors Note: to make this easy, we’ve kept the late round surprises between the third-and-seventh rounds, as some people often see the second as a late round, but we have decided to keep that round out of it.)