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Cincinnati’s Matt Harvey will try to build on the momentum from his last start 49ers Game Jerseys , but he’ll have to do it against a team that has handled the right-hander, even when he was in his top form.

Harvey (2-5, 5.66 ERA) will start the second game of a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. The Braves will counter with veteran Anibal Sanchez (3-1, 2.55).

The Braves won the series opener 5-4 in 11 innings on Monday to end Cincinnati’s seven-game winning streak. Atlanta leads the season series 3-2.

“It’s starting to come around,” Harvey said. “We have been watching a lot of video, making sure everything stays the same throughout the start.”

Harvey defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-2 in his last start and allowed two runs in six innings, striking out six. That broke a three-game losing streak and improved his record to 2-3 with Cincinnati, which he joined on April 8 in a trade that sent catcher Devin Mesoraco to the New York Mets.

“(The Cubs game) was a lot closer,” Harvey said. “It’s trusting your mechanics and the work that goes in between starts.”

But in 13 career starts against Atlanta, Harvey is 3-7 with a 5.27 ERA. He appeared in two games against the Braves while with the Mets and went 0-1 with a 12.37 ERA. In his only start against Atlanta in 2018 Seahawks Game Jerseys , Harvey allowed six runs in six innings.

Sanchez has been the biggest surprise of the season for Atlanta. Picked up late in spring training, the right-hander has provided consistency in the back end of the rotation. After missing a month with a hamstring injury, Sanchez has made five starts and gone 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA.

He was roughed up a bit at Toronto in last start, giving up four runs on five hits and four walks in five innings.

Sanchez has not faced the Reds this season. In four career starts against Cincinnati, Sanchez is 2-2 with a 2.52 ERA. He threw a two-hit shutout against the Reds in 2015, the last time he’s defeated them.

Atlanta continues to show the ability to produce in the late innings and lead the National League with 141 runs in the seventh or later. On Monday the Braves scored the tying run in the seventh and won it in the 11th when second baseman Ozzie Albies delivered the game-winning homer.

It was the 17th homer for Albies and the first walkoff homer of his career.

Albies is batting .545 (12-for-22) during the four games of the current homestand. He had two doubles to go with his homer on Tuesday and leads the league with 44 extra-base hits.

“He’s starting to swing the bat,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s been a real stellar guy for us. No doubt he’s aggressive. That makes him what he is. He’s having a heckuva year.”

Cincinnati right fielder Scott Schebler had a double and a homer in the series opener. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games and 17 of his last 18. Schebler missed three games in the last series while on the bereavement list.

Shohei Ohtani’s elbow injury has healed enough that the Los Angeles Angels‘ two-way star can begin a hitting program immediately.

General manager Billy Eppler said Thursday that Ohtani underwent an MRI in Los Angeles that showed improvement to his ulnar collateral ligament, clearing him to take batting practice in private.

”That’s news I was hoping to hear,” Eppler said on a conference call.

Ohtani was placed on the disabled list with a UCL sprain June 8. He will be re-evaluated by doctors in three weeks.

Asked whether Ohtani needs Tommy John surgery that could cause him to miss the rest of this season as well as all of the 2019 season, Eppler said Buccaneers Game Jerseys , ”No doctor has told me that Shohei needs surgical intervention at this time.”

Ohtani has a Grade 2 sprain, or partial tear, of the UCL in his right elbow. In hopes of avoiding Tommy John surgery, the Angels had Ohtani’s ligament injected with platelet-rich plasma and stem cells earlier this month. Eppler said he has not had additional injections.

Eppler said Ohtani will not play in rehab games but will take batting practice in a ”private and controlled environment” and could face live pitching as soon as this weekend. Because Ohtani is not a position player, rehab games were deemed unnecessary.

”We can control a little bit more the progression,” Eppler said. ”This allows for more freedom, structure and control.”

Ohtani has not been cleared to pitch yet.

His last appearance came June 6 in a start against Kansas City. Ohtani left after four innings with a blister and also mentioned he was feeling tightness in his elbow. An MRI taken the next day revealed the UCL in his right elbow had progressed from a Grade 1 strain to a more serious Grade 2 level.

Ohtani won four of his first five decisions before getting injured. He was batting .289 with six home runs and 20 RBIs.

”I know that not being able to play baseball competitively and only being able to train doesn’t really satisfy his appetite and his hunger to play,” Eppler said. ”He’s now one step closer. I can only assume he’s excited about it.”

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