The Yankees entered their series with the Atlanta Braves with the worst record in MLB, but might be catching another team that few expected to be below .500 at just the right time.

Braves starter Ian Anderson was masterful in his six starts in 2020, one of which involved out-pitching Gerrit Cole as he posted a 1.95 ERA and gave up three earned runs or fewer in every start and allowed just one home run in 32 ¹/₃ innings. He’s allowed three home runs in three starts this season while issuing 4.1 walks per nine innings to go with a 4.70 ERA as he has given up at least three earned in each of his last two starts.

Yankees starter Corey Kluber is also having his issues following two injury-riddled years, failing to go more than four innings in any of his three starts and has a 6.10 ERA with 6.1 walks and 2.6 home runs per nine innings surrendered.

While Kluber has been ineffective this season, he gets to face a Braves lineup missing Ronald Acuna Jr., whose seven home runs and .419 batting average are both in the top two of the MLB for qualifying players and is the only player on the roster that entered this series with at least 22 at-bats and a batting average above .232.

The Yankees’ 2.43 bullpen ERA entering the series is the second-best in MLB and with the Braves bullpen having the lowest rate of ground balls, a struggling Yankees bunch should catch a break on Wednesday as they look to get their season trending in the right direction.

The play: Yankees, -121.