Atlanta hosts St. Louis in game one of the NLDS

ATLANTA, Ga. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Atlanta Braves host the St. Louis Cardinals in game one of the National League Division Series at 4:02 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3.

A pair of 31-year old pitchers will get the nod for each team. The left-hander Dallas Keuchel will toe the slab for the Braves while Miles Mikolas will take the mound for the Cardinals.

Mikolas had a solid end to the 2019 regular season, finishing with a 3.34 ERA in September. The right-hander had a strong outing against the Braves earlier in the year, as he gave up just three runs in seven innings pitched.

Braves manager Brian Snitker will call on the postseason veteran Keuchel to get the job done against a potent Cardinal lineup. Keuchel has a career 3.31 ERA in the playoffs with a 4-2 record in 51.2 innings pitched.

As far as players to watch for the Bravos go, Freddie Freeman remains the main man in the middle of the Braves lineup. The four-time all-star first baseman hit 38 home runs along with 121 RBI’s this season. In 21 career at-bats against St. Louis, Freeman has hit .381 with a 1.17 OPS.

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The Cards also boast their own all-star caliber first baseman in Paul Goldschmidt who they acquired from Arizona in the offseason. The 32-year-old had a red-hot September and played a crucial role in St. Louis capturing the NL Central crown.

For St. Louis, this marks the first Redbird playoff appearance since 2015. However, the Cardinals have a bevy of postseason experience on their roster with players such as Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler.

However, this isn’t necessarily the case for the Braves, whose lineup consists of talented yet youthful players. Atlanta pushed across 5.28 runs per game in the regular season, ranking seventh in the majors in that category.

The Braves took the regular-season series over the Cardinals 4-2 and ended 2019 with a 50-31 home record at SunTrust Park. St. Louis finished the year just over .500 on the road with a 41-40 record away from Busch Stadium.