The Braves are trying to steady things Tuesday night after a rough opening to their series in Chicago, and they’re handing the ball to Martín Pérez to help them do it.
Atlanta dropped the first game 7-3, with Reynaldo López’s short, ineffective start sending the Braves into an early hole. López’s outing ended with a trip back to the injured list, and although the offense showed some late life, it wasn’t enough to erase the damage.
Now comes Pérez, the veteran left-hander who has quietly become one of the more dependable innings-eaters in a Braves rotation that has been through plenty. He takes the mound at 7:40 p.m. ET with an 8-9 record and a 3.08 ERA, matched up against Cubs right-hander Kevin Gausman, who is 9-12 with a 4.60 ERA.
Pérez has developed a useful habit for Atlanta: when one outing goes sideways, the next one usually looks a lot better. That was the case after his Sept. 5 start at Philadelphia, when he lasted just 3 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. He answered that with one of his best outings of the season last Thursday against the Rays, throwing seven shutout innings and allowing four hits and two walks.
The Cubs haven’t been a friendly matchup for him in a limited sample. Pérez has faced Chicago only three times, with two of those as starts, and he’s 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in those games. Over 11 2/3 innings, he’s allowed 11 hits and struck out eight.
Still, he did have one clean inning against them earlier this year. In Atlanta’s 4-1 home win over the Cubs on May 13, Pérez came out of the bullpen and retired the side in order.
Gausman brings a different kind of storyline into the matchup. He spent a partial season with the Braves in 2018 and another partial season in 2019 that didn’t go nearly as well, before getting his career back on track in San Francisco and then Toronto.
But this year has been a struggle. His 4.60 ERA in 30 starts is his worst since that 2019 season, when he posted a 5.72 mark.
And since the trade deadline move to Chicago, the results have not improved much. He had a 4.38 ERA in 23 starts with the Blue Jays, then has gone on to post a 5.31 ERA in seven starts with the Cubs.
His last outing was a rough one. Against the Brewers last Wednesday, Gausman was charged with seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in four innings during an 8-6 loss.
Against Atlanta, though, he has generally done better. Gausman is 1-2 with a 3.13 ERA in five career starts versus the Braves, and his lone loss in that stretch came earlier this season with Toronto. On June 2, he gave up four runs on five hits in six innings in a 4-3 Atlanta win.
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Braves Deadline Pickup Is Suddenly Fueling A Serious MLB Debate
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Jeff Francoeur has already gone as far as calling Mahle the best pitcher to move midseason, and the argument has enough fuel to keep circulating. Tarik Skubal has been solid with the Dodgers over the same number of appearances, but Atlantas return has been the cleaner headline so far, especially considering what it took to get Mahle. Still, these evaluations are always fluid this time of year, and the final verdict may depend on how both pitchers finish the season. [Read more 🡒]