MLB Game Preview - Colorado at Atlanta

Sun Apr 28, 2019 1:20 PM EDT

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman could match an Atlanta record if he is able to reach base Sunday in the finale of the three-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies.

The Braves will send right-hander Kevin Gausman (1-2, 3.96 ERA) against Colorado left-hander Tyler Anderson (0-2, 12.00). The Rockies have won the first two games of the three-game series and have won eight in a row at Atlanta.

The Rockies have won 10 of 12 games overall after beating the Braves 9-5 Saturday thanks to a five-run, ninth-inning rally. Colorado (13-14) is now within a game of .500 after starting the season 3-12.

"It's a good one," Colorado manager Bud Black said after the win. "With 162 games, you'll look back and see only a handful of these kinds of games. That was a really, really good one for us."

Freeman, who went 1-for-3 with a home run on Saturday, has reached base in each of the Braves' first 26 games. If he reaches base on Sunday, Freeman would match the Atlanta record set by J.D. Drew, who reached base in 27 straight games to start the 2004 season.

Freeman is chasing the franchise record of 37 straight to start a season, a mark set by Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews in 1961.

The streak is the longest in the National League. Freeman's longest on-base streak for any time period is 46 games, which he set in 2016. Freeman has an overall active 27-game streak counting the final game of 2018.

Colorado shortstop Trevor Story is on a tear, too. He has a career-best 15-game hitting streak that he extended with a ninth-inning homer on Saturday. Story is batting .349 (22-for-63) during the streak.

Gausman, a native of Colorado who his first 5 1/2 major league seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, has never faced the Rockies.

Gausman is coming off his worst outing of the season, a 7-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on April 23. Gausman allowed six runs, five of them earned, over 5 1/3 innings. It was his shortest outing of the year.

Anderson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on April 22 after recovering from left knee inflammation. In his return against the Washington Nationals, he lasted only three-plus innings and allowed five runs. The Rockies won that game, but Anderson was not involved in the decision.

The 29-year-old lefty will be making his fourth start of the season. He has not pitched more than five innings in any of his previous outings, and he has given up at least five runs in each start. Anderson has nine strikeouts and six walks in 12 innings.

This will be Anderson's second career start against Atlanta. He beat the Braves with a solid six-inning start in 2016.

Much attention will be paid to the Atlanta bullpen, which allowed five runs in the ninth inning on Saturday. A.J. Minter was charged with four runs, and Dan Winkler served up Story's three-run homer.

"Got to come back tomorrow ready to go," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "That's all you can do."

The Braves placed struggling left-handed reliever Jesse Biddle on the 10-day injured list Saturday due to a right thigh contusion and right groin strain, and they recalled right-hander Shane Carle.

--Field Level Media