Tonight's game between the Braves and Marlins involves three hitting streaks. Bonifacio for Florida has hit safely in 26 games with a .390 average and is the second longest hitting streak in the club's history. Uggla for Atlanta has a career high 19 game streak in progress with a .347 average for that time frame. Freeman for Atlanta has had 3 consecutive 3 hit games and a .420 average in a 12 game streak. Staton has 4 Home Runs in his last 6 games. The other streak of note is Florida in the win column as they hold the longest active winning streak in the majors presently with 5 and have won 18 out of 26 overall and 14-5 since July 6th. Both teams will bring roughly a .250 team average into the series, however Florida has 783 strikeouts for the season while Atlanta has 824 strikouts. This difference of roughly 40 strikeouts might indicate better plate discipline by Florida in this series which may contribute to baserunners aboard. Atlanta Pitcher Beachy has been touched up as of late and looking to reduce his run allowance at home where he has given up 19 runs in 7 starts. Hensley for Florida will start but may be uncomfortable in his role for a stretch as he is used to being called upon in relief situations. Atlanta has won 4 of 6 overall this year in this matchup and swept the last three in Miami. That series had a healthy Chipper Jones and Brian McCann. The potential of Bonifacio to continue his streak with the power that Staton delivers might provide a one two punch that enables Florida to continue their overall winning streak. Florida will seek to rattle Beachy early to inflict damage as Braves Bullpen has over 350 strikeouts on the season. Which team can keep their respective streaks alive? Source ESPN MLB Preview.
