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The MLB Playoffs are here! In the NL Wild Card Series, we have the Cincinnati Reds taking on the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. The Reds will send out right-hander Trevor Bauer to the mound and the Braves will give Max Fried the nod on Wednesday.

Live Here?► https://livesporttv.xyz/mlb-wildcard/
Live Here?► https://livesporttv.xyz/mlb-wildcard/

Cincinnati Reds vs. Atlanta Braves
When: Tuesday, September 30
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: fuboTV

https://livesporttv.xyz/mlb-wildcard/

The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds will begin their best-of-three Wild Card Series on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta. The Braves are the No. 2 seed in the National League, while the Reds earned the No. 7 seed. The Braves moved into first place on Aug. 17 and cruised to their third consecutive NL East title. The Reds had a more difficult path to the postseason. They had to win 11 of their final 14 games to storm to October.

Here is how you can watch their entire best-of-three Wild Card Series matchup. All three games will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta.

The Braves have not yet announced their postseason rotation beyond Fried, but it is expected to be rookie righty Ian Anderson in Game 2 and fellow righty Kyle Wright in Game 3. Now here are three things to know heading into the Braves vs. Reds Wild Card Series matchup.

Braves vs. Reds: National League Wild Card series preview, schedule, predictions
Chris Bumbaca
USA TODAY

For the third straight season, the Atlanta Braves (35-25) ran away with the National League East. This time, they accomplished that over the course of 60 games instead of 162.

The Cincinnati Reds (31-29), meanwhile, needed a 16-9 showing in September to earn the NL’s first wild card spot to set up a date with Atlanta. The two clubs have yet to meet this season, as MLB scheduled its 60-game season regionally for 2020.

Game 1 is primed for a pitcher’s duel, with NL Cy Young favorite Trevor Bauer going for the Reds and the undefeated Max Fried starting for the Braves.

A deep lineup propelled the Braves to one of the top team offenses in the game. Over the final month of the season, Atlanta averaged 6.7 runs per game (including a 29-run performance against the Miami Marlins). Freddie Freeman, who battled COVID-19 during summer training, is a National League MVP candidate after a .341/.462/.640 season. He didn’t even lead his team in home runs or RBI — that would be Marcell Ozuna, whose 18 dingers and 56 RBI topped the NL. Throw in a now-healthy Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Travis d’Arnaud and Adam Duvall, and the Braves have a top-to-bottom advantage over a team that hit .212 collectively this year.

Reds rotation: If the Braves have the upper hand on the lineup card, then the Reds have it on the mound, at least in theory. Cincinnati’s staff posted the best fWAR (8.1), Fielding Independent Pitching (3.47) and K/9 rate (11.01) in the majors, and Bauer-Castillo-Gray is a potent postseason rotation. Looking at Game 1, Bauer is coming off a start that almost surely secured his Cy Young, while Fried has missed time this month with back issues and also tweaked his ankle during his final start.

Can Reds timely hitting carry them?: Even though the Reds’ team batting average ranked last in the bigs, this offense has pieces to put runs on the board. It just needs to strike at the right time. Cincinnati led the NL in walks, as Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas and Eugenio Suarez all had on-base percentages more than 100 points higher than their batting averages. The Reds hit the fourth-most home runs in the NL (the Braves were second) with 90, and 59.7% of Cincinnati’s runs came via homers. That mark is the highest in baseball history.

Cincinnati is making its first playoff appearance since 2013, thanks to an 11-3 run in the final 14 games of the season, after struggling out the gate. The Reds have the third-lowest batting average and OBP against lefties. Against righties, Atlanta is second in batting average, first in OBP and OPS in MLB.

Bauer is one of the top pitching stars in MLB and is putting up the numbers to back up his popularity, but Fried isn’t getting enough Cy Young love. He’s the ace of a Braves team that pretty much coasted to a division title and has pitched against better competition.

Fried’s home stats aren’t as impressive as his road numbers because he started against the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays (all AL playoff teams) at home. His winning percentage in those games is 100%. Bauer’s winning road record is due to only playing one above-.500 team in the Chicago Cubs and their below-average lineup.