Braves look to regroup in brief interleague matchup with Red Sox

After a West Coast trip in which the Atlanta Braves went 1-5, they return home to host the Boston Red Sox in a short two-game series that begins Tuesday.

Heading into this series, Atlanta finds itself in uncharted territory, second place in the NL East. Let’s take a look at the pitching matchups and things to watch out for at Truist Park in this midweek game.

Game 1 Tuesday, May 7 at 7:20 p.m. ET:

Kutter Crawford (2-1, 1.56 ERA) vs. Reynaldo Lopez (2-1, 1.50 ERA)

Game 2 Wednesday, May 8 at 7:20 p.m. ET

Nick Pivetta (1-1, 0.82 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (4-1, 3.44 ERA)

Ronald Acuna Jr. warms up

One of the biggest struggles this year for the Braves has been the lack of power and production from an offense that shattered multiple records a season ago. The igniter of Atlanta’s offense is none other than Ronald Acuna Jr. who struggled mightily by his standards in 2024.

Although the Braves struggled as a team on their last road trip, Acuna showed signs of potentially returning to form soon. Since the calendar turned to May, Ronald is 7 for 17 and hit his second home run of the season. Expect it to start living up to its expectations in the coming weeks.

Braves vs. Nick Pivetta in Game 2

Although the Red Sox don’t come to Atlanta often, Pivetta is no stranger to the Braves. Before joining the Red Sox rotation in 2020, the right-hander played with one of Atlanta’s biggest rivals, the Phillies.

Over the years, some players have come and gone, but many of those currently on Atlanta’s roster are players who had a multitude of at-bats against Pivetta. In his career, Nick Pivetta is 7-4 against Atlanta with a 5.04 ERA and allowed 13 home runs in 89 innings. Maybe seeing Pivetta will be the start of the Atlanta surge we know is coming.

Chris Sale seeks revenge

Chris Sale has been sensational in his last few starts and will look to prove his point against his former team. Sale was very clear about his time in Boston and said he wouldn’t call it “successful” despite winning the World Series because he didn’t pitch enough due to injury.

We know that Red Sox fans can be unforgiving at times and with Sale missing so much time while under a massive contract, it has created a recipe for him to become a bad guy in their eyes. Whatever professional stance Sale takes when asked about his former club, you know extra emotions will be present with the big left-hander on Wednesday. Hopefully this competitive and fierce mindset translates into a dominant performance and the Braves win.