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The Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants will meet for a three-game series this week in Atlanta. If the season were over tomorrow (and the Braves won the play-in wild card game) these two clubs would meet in the NLDS for the second time in three years. As you can probably imagine, it's going to be a fun time at Turner Field this week.
The Giants are led offensively by Melky Cabrera. Yeah, him. The once-maligned outfielder in Atlanta finally realized he could become a pretty damn good ballplayer if he'd just spend some time in the gym, and he's done exactly that since leaving town. Cabrera is hitting .353 this season with an OPS of 1.005. I don't believe it either.
Other than Melky, Buster Posey continues to be a fine catcher both behind the plate and with the bat. He's currently hitting .297/.370/.470, and he leads San Francisco in homers (11) and RBI (47). Pablo Sandoval is hitting to the tune of a .864 OPS while playing third base. One name you'll remember: Gregor Blanco. Despite not hitting much of anything other than air while with the Braves, he's having a solid season both defensively and at the plate with a wOBA of .324.
As a team the Giants rank 12th in runs scored amongst National League teams. They're tied with the Braves for fourth place in terms of batting average at .261, although their on-base percentage (.316) and slugging percentage (.378) are not great. This is a decent offense with a couple of very talented hitters, and they don't need to score much for their terrific pitching staff.
Pitching Matchups & Start Times:
Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. ET - Jair Jurrjens vs. Barry Zito
Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. - Mike Minor vs. Ryan Vogelsong
Thursday, 12:10 p.m. - Tim Hudson vs. Madison Bumgarner
For more on the Braves, check out Talking Chop.