Braves vs Dodgers preview: Atlanta hopes for series victory thanks to Charlie Morton on Sunday Night Baseball

The Braves have done everything they need to do against the powerful Dodgers to stay in the playoff race. The Mets blew Saturday's game against the Phillies, leaving Atlanta tied for the final wild-card spot and just one game behind second place, currently held by Arizona. Still, they're on a knife edge and need to keep getting results to advance.

Charlie Morton is on the field for Atlanta tonight, and he's more of a bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher at this point, but he's still perfectly fine. His K/9 is the lowest it's been since 2015, before his late-career renaissance, but he's brought his walk rate back down from a full-season career high last year. He's also probably had bad luck with home runs and home runs this season, but hopefully he's in the baseball gods' favor tonight. His curveball is still really good, but it doesn't hit as well as it used to. If he's gotten into trouble this season, it's been because of walks and home runs, so if he can largely avoid those, he'll give the Braves offense a real chance.

On the other hand, Walker Buehler starts, and he's a complicated pitcher for Braves fans to watch. He's been great for the NL rival Dodgers in the past, but had one of the best playoff moments in recent memory for Atlanta and has struggled since returning from Tommy John. His strikeouts have declined pretty quickly every season since 2020, and his walk rate is at a career high in his 59.0 innings this season as he returns from Tommy John. He has an abysmal 5.95 ERA and 6.09 FIP this year, but a more modest 4.63 xFIP. He's certainly not the Cy Young candidate he once was, and this looks like a push or bias from the Braves for tonight's pitching duel. If the Braves' offense can come up with a show, Buehler isn't a pitcher they should be afraid of in his current state.

Game info

Date/time of the game: Sunday, September 15, 7:10 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: ESPN

Streaming: none

Radio: 680 am / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 am