Giants, Braves set for lengthy day in Atlanta

The Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants will play almost two games on Wednesday.

With the Giants leading 3-2, the opener of a three-game series in Atlanta was suspended because of rain on Tuesday night in the middle of the second inning. The game will pick up there, with the start time set for 2 p.m. ET.

The teams then will return to the field at 7:15 for the regularly scheduled game, in which rookie JR Ritchie (1-1, 3.82 ERA) will try to match his strong performance in his most recent game for the National League East-leading Braves.

Ritchie, one of the team’s top pitching prospects, was pressed into service when Spencer Strider had to be placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. He made five starts for the Braves earlier this season and was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett with Strider’s absence.

In his first stint with the Braves in 2026, Ritchie posted a 4.56 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. Against the New York Mets last Friday, he pitched five scoreless innings in relief of Strider and allowed two hits and two walks. He struck out four in his team’s 7-5 loss.

Ritchie has never faced the Giants.

The suspension disrupted the pitching plans for San Francisco, which had not named a starter for the night game as of Wednesday morning. The Giants had expected to send veteran left-hander Robbie Ray (4-6, 4.42 ERA) to the mound for the scheduled game, but instead he will start the resumed game.

Ray did not figure in the decision in his most recent start against Washington on June 10. He worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits, striking out three in San Francisco’s 11-10 win.

He has faced the Braves eight times in his career, going 1-4 with a 5.90 ERA.

Ray is one of many veterans who are rumored to be on the trading block as the Giants languish in fourth place in the tough National League West, 17 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and nine games out of the final wild-card spot. But Giants manager Tony Vitello said the team has to tune out the chatter and stay focused.

“Whether something happens for us or not, I don’t have a lot of control over,” Vitello said. “It could be a distraction the clubhouse. The thing our team can do is simplify things. As of right now we’re a pretty good team when we score a handful of runs. If we can do that and be prepared on defense behind our pitchers, I like our chances of improving on our record.”

The return of Drake Baldwin should dramatically help the Atlanta offense. During the 23 games he missed due to a right oblique strain, the team’s catchers (Sandy Leon, Chadwick Tromp and Austin Wynns) batted only .110 with a .231 OPS, no runs and three RBIs, with only one extra-base hit.

Baldwin led off Tuesday’s game with a 473-foot home run to dead center field. It was the longest recorded homer in the majors this season.

“Our team has been great about meeting all the challenges of a season,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “Whether it’s injury-related, travel-related — there’s always challenges along the way in this league. I feel like our guys have met all the challenges head-on. It’s a good group. They show up the right way every day.”

San Francisco rookie Bryce Eldridge extended his on-base streak to 21 games on Tuesday when he singled in the first inning. It is the longest streak by a Giants player since Matt Duffy reached in 20 straight games in 2015.

More impressively in franchise history, it is the longest on-base streak for a player 21 or younger in the past 95 years. He is chasing Baseball Hall of Fame member Willie McCovey, who had a 25-game streak in 1959.

–Field Level Media