Vaughn Grissom looks forward to Red Sox’ visit to Atlanta to play his former team.
The Atlanta Braves will return to Truist Park Tuesday and will be looking to rebound after a 1-5 road trip that did all sorts of damage to their spot in the standings and team stats. Atlanta enters Tuesday with a 20-12 record and are 2.5 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies pending the outcome of Philadelphia’s Thursday matchup against the Giants.
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Atlanta is trying to battle its way through an offensive funk of late, but showed some signs of turning things around. Ronald Acuña Jr. was 5-for-12 with a double and his second home run of the season in the three games in Los Angeles. Austin Riley also homered and was 3-for-12 in the three games. Matt Olson was just 2-for-18 with five walks and five strikeouts. His average has dropped below .200 at .197 but continues to hit the ball hard and his expected stats show a turnaround is likely.
The Braves’ bullpen took a hit on the road trip when Pierce Johnson was placed on the 15-day Injured List with elbow inflammation. Atlanta selected the contract of Jackson Stephens and transferred Angel Perdomo to the 60-day injured list to fill the Johnson’s spot on the roster.
Boston comes into the series with a 19-16 record, third place in the AL East and trailing the Baltimore Orioles by 4.5 games. The Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday with a 9-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Boston is 12-7 on the road this season, but just 7-13 against teams with a .500 or greater record. After missing the first month of the season with injury, Grissom made his Red Sox debut against the Twins last Friday and has just a double in eight plate appearances so far.
