New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves: Clarke Schmidt vs. Max Fried

Much like the majority of this season, the Yankees' current road trip has not gone how they hoped it would. Winnable series against a weak opponent in the White Sox and a decent one in the Marlins were both dropped, and now they have to tangle with the best team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves. Like most of their challenges this year, this task isn't impossible — the Braves have been treading water recently — but their pitching staff is going to be tested against one of the top offenses in the league.

As far as pitching matchups go though, drawing Clarke Schmidt for the opening game is far from a bad start. Schmidt has been the most consistent Yankee pitcher not named Gerrit Cole, and he's pitched eight consecutive quality starts to show it. His ERA is still only a modest 4.23 thanks to his poor beginning of the season, but Schmidt is far from the pitcher he was then.

Going against him is Max Fried, one of Atlanta's best pitchers looking to reestablish himself after missing a significant stretch of time with a forearm strain. Fried's gotten two starts in since returning, one of which was a shutout outing against the Cubs and the other being a relative dud against the Pirates. He has Cy Young stuff when he's on, but perhaps the Yanks are catching him at an opportune time.

DJ LeMahieu makes his return to the Yankees lineup after missing the previous five games with calf tightness. He’ll play first base with the now-slumping Jake Bauers taking a seat on the bench.

How to watch

Location: Truist Park — Atlanta, GA

First pitch: 7:20 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Bally Sports South, MLBN (out-of-market only)

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 / 680/93.7 FM The Fan, Le Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM

Online stream: MLB.tv

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