Mauricio Dubon back in center for Braves-Guardians finale
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With Michael Harris Jr. on the paternity list and Eli White day-to-day with plantar fasciitis, Mauricio Dubon will make his second straight start in center field for Sunday night’s finale of the Braves-Guardians series in Atlanta.
Dubon will hit eighth in the lineup followed by Jorge Mateo, who will make his second straight start at shortstop. Mike Yastrzemski is also back in the lineup, hitting fifth against a righty starter following Ronald Acuña Jr, Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Austin Riley in the top four spots.
This will be Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee’s second career start against the Braves. He tossed seven shutout, no-hit innings, striking out nine and walking none but not factoring into the decision of Cleveland’s 4-2 11-inning victory in Atlanta on April 27, 2024.
The only Braves hitters who have faced Bibee more than three times are newcomers Jonah Heim (0-for-9 but not in the lineup after he caught Saturday’s game) and Dubon (0-for-4). The current Atlanta roster is a combined 1-for-29 (.034) against Bibee. Ozzie Albies has the only hit, a double.
Cleveland is giving starting center fielder Steven Kwan the night off even though he has had success against Braves starter Chris Sale in a small sample size (2-for-6 with a homer and a double).
Kyle Manzardo is back in Sunday’s lineup, DHing and hitting sixth, after he hit his first homer of the season Friday and did not play in Saturday’s game.
Sale, whose career began with seven seasons in thee AL Central with the Chicago White Sox, has faced the Guardians 33 times (22 starts), third-most of any major league team. He has a 7-8 record and 4.44 ERA against Cleveland, his worst ERA against any team he has faced more than five times.
Current members of the Guardians’ roster, though, don’t have a ton of experience against Sale. Of the team’s 52 at-bats against Sale, longtime Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez has 30 of them with eight hits (.267), one double, one RBI and more walks (four) than strikeouts (three).
Kwan has the only homer by a current Cleveland player off Sale. Overall, the Guardians’ roster is 13-for-52 (.250) with two RBIs, 11 strikeouts and four walks against the Atlanta ace.
