MILWAUKEE — For the Atlanta Braves
Washington Redskins
Jerseys Womens , the big question as they headed from a long three-game
series in Yankee Stadium to Milwaukee concerns the status of star first baseman
Freddie Freeman.
All indications are Freeman will play the opener of a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, but it will not be official until the lineup card is
posted Thursday afternoon at Miller Park.
“If you ask him, he’s going to say yes,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “But until we get there and see how it is, we won’t know. It was probably good
that we got him out of there and started on some treatment.”
Freeman exited in the fourth inning of Thursday’s 6-2 loss to the New York Yankee Stadium with an upper right arm contusion. He was injured when he was hit
in the third inning by CC Sabathia, and by pulling him early to get treatment,
Freeman and the Braves hope the precautionary measure means he can play
Thursday.
“Luckily, it didn’t hit my hand,” Freeman said. “I’ll take the elbow and a little soreness. As long as I have the strength in my arm tomorrow, I can deal
with the pain.”
Atlanta is 4-2 on its 10-game trip. The Braves swept three games in St. Louis last weekend and took a 5-3, 11-inning victory over the Yankees on Monday before
losing the last two games.
“I thought we handled ourselves really well,” Snitker said. “We won a really tough game the first night, we put ourselves in a position to win today and
today here we come again. The guys never quit. They know they can play with
anybody and it’s a good sign.”
Milwaukee (51-35) is the first team in the National League to reach 50 wins after completing a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 3-2 win on
Wednesday.
Brad Miller and Nate Orf played roles in three close wins as Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell is employing a mix-and-match approach at shortstop. He is
using that strategy while remaining optimistic that shortstop Orlando Arcia will
rediscover his offensive stroke at Triple-A Colorado Springs and rejoin
Milwaukee for a playoff push.
Miller has gotten off to a good start with the Brewers. He extended his hitting streak to nine games Wednesday and has a hit in 10 of 12 games since
joining the team
Youth Arizona Cardinals
Jerseys , with a pair of home runs.
Orf was batting .307 with an .875 OPS when he was summoned Monday from Triple-A and recorded his first career hit with a solo home run against the
Twins.
Both are immediate offensive upgrades to Arcia, who was slashing .197/.231/.482 but remained in the regular lineup because of his defensive
ability.
While Miller saw extensive action at the position earlier in his career and Orf has spent most of the season there at Colorado Springs, neither player is a
natural shortstop so Counsell was prepared to sacrifice defense to shore up the
bottom of the order.
“When we sent Orlando down, we had multiple players on the roster who aren’t true shortstops so we’re trying to find guys who can play shortstop and who can
kind of fill in at shortstop,” he said. “I don’t think we have an answer, but
this is how we’re going to try it.”
A more stable solution could be coming soon. Tyler Saladino was on a roll before suffering a severe ankle sprain on May 29.
In 16 games with the Brewers, he batted .324 with three home runs and eight RBIs while playing defense well enough to make it possible for Milwaukee to send
Arcia down a first time on May 25.
Saladino has been rehabbing for the last week and could rejoin the team in the next few days.
“Tyler will be back soon and will end up having some of the shortstop duties,” Counsell said. “We’ll sit down here soon and figure that out.”
The right-handed hitting Orf is likely to get the starting nod Thursday when the Brewers face Braves left-hander Max Fried.
Fried (1-2, 2.55 ERA) returned to the rotation last week when Brandon McCarthy was placed on the disabled list and struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings
and earned his first victory of the season as Atlanta beat the Cardinals in St.
Louis.
Fried remained with the team after his last outing but didn’t learn for sure that he’d get another start until Wednesday morning. He’s looking forward to
getting his first taste of meaningful action as the two winningest teams in the
National League face off for the first time this season.
Milwaukee counters with right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (6-3, 3.71) who bounced back from his worst outing of the season to hold the Cincinnati Reds to a run
over five innings while striking out nine his last time out.
Signed to a two-year contract over the winter, Chacin has been a stabilizing force in the Brewers’ rotation. He leads the staff with 18 starts and 97 innings
his season.
Chacin has pitched well against Atlanta throughout his career, posting a 3.94 ERA in six previous starts. Due to a lack of run support in those contests, is
just 1-4 lifetime against the Braves.
BUFFALO (9-7) at JACKSONVILLE (10-6)
Sunday
Youth Baltimore Ravens Jerseys , 1:05 p.m. ET, CBS
OPENING LINE – Jaguars by 7 +
RECORD VS. SPREAD – Buffalo 9-6-1, Jacksonville 9-7
SERIES RECORD – Bills lead 8-7
LAST MEETING – Bills beat Jaguars 28-21, Nov. 27, 2016
LAST WEEK – Bills beat Dolphins 22-16; Jaguars lost to Titans 15-10
AP PRO32 RANKING – Bills No. 12 (tie), Jaguars No. 10
BILLS OFFENSE – OVERALL (29), RUSH (6), PASS (31)
BILLS DEFENSE – OVERALL (26), RUSH (29), PASS (19)
JAGUARS OFFENSE – OVERALL (6), RUSH (1), PASS (17)
JAGUARS DEFENSE – OVERALL (2), RUSH (21)
Leon
Draisaitl Jersey , PASS (1)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Both franchises partying like it’s 1999: Bills in playoffs for first time since then, and Jaguars hosting first postseason game
since same season. … Bills won three of last four in regular season, eked into
playoffs when Bengals stunned Ravens by scoring on fourth-down pass in final
minute. … Bills snapped longest playoff drought in North America’s four major
professional sports. Buffalo’s 17-year playoff drought is tied for fifth longest
in NFL history and longest since NFL-AFL merger in 1970. … Bills’ last playoff
game was Music City Miracle, in which Tennessee scored go-ahead touchdown on
kickoff return lateral in final seconds to win 22-16. … Bills haven’t won
postseason game since beating Miami in 1995. Buffalo is 0-3 since. … Bills RB
LeSean McCoy uncertain to play because of sprained right ankle. He accounts for
32.7 percent of team’s yards and scored eight of offense’s 28 touchdowns. …
Jaguars have lost two straight. … Jaguars’ Doug Marrone facing former team in
first playoff game as head coach. Marrone opted out of contract with Buffalo in
December 2014 and walked away with $4 million. Departure angered Bills fans and
befuddled players and executives. … Jaguars DT Marcell Dareus also faces former
team. Bills traded 340-pound run stopper to Jacksonville in late October for
sixth-round draft pick that improved to fifth when Jags made playoffs. … TE
Marcedes Lewis is only holdover from Jacksonville’s last playoff game in 2008. …
LT Cam Robinson (abdomen) and DT Abry Jones (back) expected to return after
missing regular-season finale. Leading WR Marqise Lee has high-ankle sprain that
forced him to miss last week’s game, but is preparing to play. ”In my head I’m
going, so I’m just going to put it like that,” Lee said. ”I’m getting it right.”
… Jaguars have 11 players with postseason experience, seven fewer than Bills. …
Jaguars sold out entire ticket allotment in hours and then asked NFL and
sponsors for permission to remove four tarps covering four sections of seats in
upper deck. Both agreed, creating 3,501 more seats. Additional seating increased
capacity at EverBank Field to 67,932.
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