JR Ritchie was set to take the ball for the Braves on Wednesday night, with Carson Whisenhunt lined up for the Giants in the second game of a rain-interrupted day. The matchup came after 7.5 innings of Tuesday’s game were completed Wednesday afternoon, turning a single night into something closer to a split doubleheader.
For Ritchie, it was his sixth career major league start, and for Whisenhunt it was a first start of the season. The Braves were trying to earn a split and avoid dropping a third straight series, while the Giants were handing the left-hander a fresh assignment in Game 2. A win would send the night into a Thursday rubber match, which was the simplest path left for the Braves after the weather had already stretched the day.
The lineup around Ritchie showed how much the Braves had to manage just to get through the evening. Michael Harris II had exited Tuesday night with lower back tightness, Drake Baldwin moved into the second spot and served as the designated hitter again, Mauricio Dubon led off and played center field, and Sandy Leon was behind the plate. The Braves also called up Jair Camargo as an extra roster member and emergency catcher, a sign that the club was building in insurance as much as it was building a lineup.
That mattered because the Braves have not been carrying much margin lately. Their offense and rotation had struggled since the start of June, and the rain delay only compressed the problem into one long day, with every inning carrying more weight than usual. The Giants answered with Eric Haase for Daniel Susac behind the plate and in the nine spot, keeping their own plan intact as the game moved into the night.
Ritchie’s start was the point of the day, but it was also the test the Braves had left after the weather and the injuries had done their work. If he gave them enough, the series would roll on to Thursday. If not, the day would end the way too many Braves days had ended lately, with the club still looking for a cleaner answer than a lineup patchwork and another short start.
