NL leading Braves look to continue hot streak against Twins

By: Jacob Moss

The Atlanta Braves look to continue their winning month of June as they are set to welcome the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins for a three-game set at Truist Park. The Braves are coming off of a series win against the Cincinnati Reds which saw them snap the Reds 13 game winning streak, improving their record to 50-27 on the season.

The Braves have continued to show they are one of the best teams in all of baseball in the month of June with an MLB best 17-4 record thus far, despite the continued absence of both Max Fried and Kyle Wright from the rotation. This is due in large part to having what is arguably the best lineup in all of baseball, led by the NL MVP frontrunner Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña is having a career year thus far slashing .328/.374/.523 with 16 homeruns, and an NL best 35 stolen bases.

Behind him first baseman Matt Olson is also having a career year currently holding the NL lead in both homeruns (25), and RBIs (60). As a team, Atlanta leads the National League in batting average (.271), home runs (139), RBIs (412) and hits (716). The pitching staff has also stepped up despite injuries leading the NL in pitching wins (50) and ranking second in staff ERA (3.85). From top to bottom this Braves roster is showing why they are the current betting favorite to win the NL pennant along with the World Series.

The Minnesota Twins on the other hand enter the series at 40-39 on the season and are currently two games up on Cleveland in the AL central. They are led by Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton offensively, while Sonny Gray leads the pitching staff. As a team, the Twins rank in the bottom half of the AL in almost every offensive metric but do possess a good amount of power at the plate ranking fourth in homeruns (103). They also boast a formidable pitching staff ranking third in team ERA (3.66) and second in team strike outs (753) among AL squads.

Game one will see a battle of the aces as Spencer Strider (8-2, 2.56 ERA) is set to face off against Sonny Gray (4-2, 3.93 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:20 PM EST, with the potential for scattered thunderstorms in the area.