Braves try to catch Cleveland off-guard – and here’s how you can watch

The Atlanta Braves leave New York with Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar likely to be joined in the outfield by Ronald Acuña, Jr. at some point during the weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians. Although nothing is official as of the time of this writing, Acuña, Jr. headed to Cleveland ahead of the team, which hopefully the time is here for his return.

Even in a down season, beating the Mets is always fun. Atlanta’s offensive has been much improved since the All-Star break, with Harris II, Profar and Marcell Ozuna leading the way.

But the starting rotation? Well, at least they parted ways with Cookie Carrasco.

As for Cleveland, they are in second place in the American League Central and on the cusp of a Wild Card spot. José Ramírez is having another magnificence year with 5.1 fWAR and a likely Top 5 AL MVP season. He just missed a 40/40 season last year, and he’s likely to follow that up with at least a 30/30 season in 2025. The Guardians have a solid line-up and their pitching staff has been good enough – even in the wake of the gambling scandal that saw them lose two pitchers, including their former closer Emmanuel Clase.

Cleveland has been on a roll since the All-Star break and have to hope this series against Atlanta won’t rock the rhythm they found in the last month.

Here are the start times for each of the upcoming games against the Guardians.

Friday, August 15 – 7:10 PM EDT
Saturday, August 16 – 7:10 PM EDT
Sunday, August 17 – 1:40PM EDT

Broadcast options for these games include:

Friday: FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast, MLB Network (out-of-network only)
Thursday: FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast
Friday: FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast

The Braves games can be heard on the Braves Radio Network. Games are also available to stream on MLB.tv (blackout restrictions apply) and the FanDuel Sports Network (restrictions apply).