Braves to Start Dallas Keuchel Monday With Chance to Clinch NLDS
By Adam Weinrib
The St. Louis Cardinals let a golden opportunity to take a 2-1 series lead slip away in the ninth on Sunday, and now the Braves have countered that ineptitude by trying to step on their throat in Game 4.
Instead of one of their multitude of young guns (or Julio Teheran), lefty Dallas Keuchel, fresh off a Game 1 assignment, will return for Game 4 on three days' rest.
The Braves will start Dallas Keuchel today.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 7, 2019
The Cardinals will counter with Dakota Hudson in an effort to defend their home turf, a 16-game winner during the regular season who's surprisingly not appeared in the series thus far.
The thought process here appears to be that after stealing a win in the ninth inning of Game 3, there's no reason not to remain aggressive, especially after what Atlanta saw from Mike Foltynewicz in a series-saving Game 2 performance. With Folty, Max Fried, and Sean Newcombe all available for an all-hands-on-deck Game 5, Atlanta would rather use the battle-tested veteran on the road in an effort to secure a comeback series victory.
“Honestly, I was fully expecting an offer from them (#STLCards). Just never really came about.” - Dallas Keuchel to @dgoold on the fit that could have been, and could still be?https://t.co/yKfBhtOe1L
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) October 7, 2019
After being spurned by the Cardinals this summer, Keuchel has a chance to finish their season on Monday afternoon. Fitting.