Anthony DeSclafani will come off the 60-day injured list to make his first start since April 21 when the visiting San Francisco Giants try to stop the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night in the second game of a four-game series.
The veteran right-hander has been out due to right-ankle inflammation and has missed 53 games. DeSclafani (0-1, 6.08 ERA) will face Atlanta rookie right-hander Spencer Strider (3-2, 2.45).
The Braves won the series opener 2-1 on Monday and have won 16 of their past 18 games. San Francisco has lost two in a row after winning seven of the previous eight.
DeSclafani made two rehab starts with Triple-A Sacramento and was give the approval to return after he threw 60 pitches in a start on June 16. He allowed four runs (three earned) in 5 2/3 combined innings. He joined the team in Atlanta and was officially named the starting pitcher following Monday’s game.
In his most recent major league appearance, DeSclafani took a loss against the New York Mets on April 21 when he allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings.
DeSclafani has made seven career starts against Atlanta, going 1-4 with a 4.54 ERA. He lost both of his starts against the Braves last year, most recently falling on Sept. 19, when he gave up two runs in six innings.
With the return of DeSclafani and Alex Cobb, who returned Sunday after missing 13 games with a neck strain, the Giants have their top five starters back in the rotation.
“I don’t think we’ve really had a stretch where the starting five have been pitching together,” Cobb said. “I felt like we showed that in spring training, how the potential is there for us to rattle off a quality outing every single night and give our team a chance to win. That’s what we’re doing right now. It’s going to be nice to jump in and be a part of that and hopefully keep that streak going.”
Strider appears to have moved into the No. 5 spot in the Atlanta rotation. The Braves had tried Huascar Ynoa, Bryce Elder, Tucker Davidson and Kyle Muller in that role, but Strider has had the most success. The team originally envisioned the hard-throwing right-hander as a middle reliever.
Strider will make his fifth start and 16th appearance of the season. He threw a career-high 106 pitches in his Wednesday start, when he allowed two runs on one hit and two walks in 5 2/3 innings against the Washington Nationals. Most notably, Strider recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts.
“Thought I had everything I needed to go deep in the game,” Strider said after that outing, “but a lot of two-strike counts and I struggled to put some guys away. Where I needed to conserve pitches, I wasn’t able to.”
Strider has never faced the Giants.
The Braves have won eight straight home games, dating to May 29 against the Miami Marlins. It is Atlanta’s longest home winning streak since a 13-game stretch from Aug. 17-Sept. 7, 2019. The Braves have 19 home runs over that stretch and have outscored the opposition 46-18.
“They were world champs last year. You look at their lineup this year, and I don’t think it’s any worse — their pitching staff just as good, their bullpen just as good,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “There’s no reason they aren’t one of the top five teams in baseball.”
–Field Level Media