The good news for the Braves is that their opponent for this weekend made it to town.
The less optimal development is that they’ll be facing the teeth of the Kansas City Royals’ rotation.
The Kansas City public relations staff confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday morning that the team has arrived in Atlanta from Washington despite the effects of Hurricane Helene battering Atlanta and causing flight cancellations in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Thursday and Friday. The Royals completed their series against the Nationals on Thursday afternoon.
The Royals’ arrival means that at least one problematic scenario has been avoided. With Wednesday and Thursday’s critical home games against the Mets postponed because of Helene and pushed back to a Monday doubleheader, the Braves faced the possibility of playing an additional doubleheader Saturday or Sunday if the Royals could not make it to Atlanta on time.
With their season on the line, the Braves will get the Royals’ horses – Brady Singer on Friday, Seth Lugo on Saturday and Cole Ragans on Sunday, according to a team spokesman. In their own chase of a wild-card berth, the Royals need one more win or a loss by the Minnesota Twins to secure a postseason berth. It would be their first since 2015.
Singer has a 9-12 record with a 3.73 ERA, Lugo is the staff ace at 16-9 with a 3.03 ERA and an All-Star appearance in July and Ragans is 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA.
The Braves have announced that Max Fried will pitch Friday but have left the remaining games in the series to be announced.
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