The Braves and Cardinals are each looking to take an edge in the National League Division Series on Sunday, when they’ll enter Game 3 tied 1-1. Atlanta evened the series on Friday with a 3-0 shutout over St. Louis, courtesy of some strong pitching by Mike Foltynewicz and a pair of well-timed hits from Josh Donaldson and Adam Duvall.
Although they’ve played to mixed results so far, the Braves will roll out the exact same lineup that’s served them through the last two games:
- Ronald Acuña Jr. (R) CF
- Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
- Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
- Josh Donaldson (R) 3B
- Nick Markakis (L) LF
- Matt Joyce (L) RF
- Brian McCann (L) C
- Dansby Swanson (R) SS
P: RHP Mike Soroka
All-Star rookie Soroka is poised to take the mound for his first career postseason appearance. He pitched to a 13-4 record in 29 regular-season starts with a 2.68 ERA, 2.1 BB/9, 7.3 SO/9, and 4.0 fWAR.
After running with very similar configurations in Games 1 and 2, the Cardinals decided to shuffle things up a bit for Game 3:
- Dexter Fowler (S) CF
- Kolten Wong (L) 2B
- Paul Goldschmidt (R) 1B
- Marcell Ozuna (R) LF
- Yadier Molina (R) C
- Matt Carpenter (L) 3B
- Tommy Edman (S) RF
- Paul DeJong (R) SS
P: RHP Adam Wainwright
Wong has been promoted from the no. 6-7 spot to no. 2 in the lineup, while Edman and DeJong have been bumped to the bottom of the list. With Harrison Bader on the bench, Carpenter is slated to make his first start in the series after filling in as a pinch-hitter on Friday. Wainwright, meanwhile, will make his first postseason outing since 2015; he hasn’t been credited with a postseason win since the 2013 NLDS.
Game 3 will kick off at 4:10 PM EDT.
