ATLANTA, GA – JULY 01: Starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (40) of the Atlanta Braves looks back a baserunner at first base during the Wednesday evening MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals on July 1, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
I’ve never been more grateful for my inability to hang – I was fast asleep before last night’s rain-soaked resumption. And it seems like that was for the best.
There was a lot of time during yesterday’s delay to worry about postponement logistics and the radar for the rest of the weekend’s games. But for today’s contest at Busch Stadium, our friends at Dugout Radar are only predicting a ~14% delay risk.
Let’s even up a series. The All-Star break looms. Maybe two consecutive series wins is too much to ask for… Save us, Reynaldo López.
López (4-1, 3.18 ERA) is looking to continue stacking solid starts. Since his return to the rotation on June 21, he’s steadily upped his pitch count and gone five straight appearances giving up one ER or less.
His first outing going five innings was against these very Cardinals at Truist Park on July 1. The Ozzie Albies wink game, if you remember. In his 69 pitches of work, he allowed two hits for the singular earned run in the first inning and was lights out for the four innings that followed. The only other baserunner for St. Louis was a walk, and he struck out six. Albies and the late offensive rally took care of the rest to get ReyLo his first win since June 7.
He had an equally strong five innings in Monday’s series finale versus the Mets. Throwing 80 pitches, his sole blemish was a leadoff homer in the second inning. Two scattered singles, two free passes to Juan Soto, and five strikeouts wrapped up his night before the Braves dropped this one in frustrating fashion.
Opposing López will be Matthew Liberatore (4-6, 5.34 ERA). Despite Liberatore’s horrific June, the Braves prolonged their own June misery by not taking advantage of the struggling starter. Jorge Mateo had the singular hit off Liberatore and came home on a sac fly. Other than that, the Braves couldn’t cash in on four walks and struck out nine times.
Liberatore went five innings in his last outing versus the Cubs. He was charged with four hits, three earned runs, three hit batsmen, and two walks in that loss.
The July Braves have definitely been swinging a better bat (sleepy PAs last night excluded), so here’s hoping they can do some damage versus Liberatore this time around. The boys will be back on BravesVision tonight.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, July 11, 7:15 p.m. ET
Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
TV: BravesVision
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, Los Bravos