Texas natives Minter for Braves, May for Dodgers in NLCS G5

Lefty reliever A

NLDS Dodgers Padres Baseball (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Lefty reliever A.J. Minter will be the first pitcher on the mound for the Atlanta Braves who are going with a bullpen day with a chance to get into their first World Series since 1999.

Atlanta took a 3-1 series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers into Game 5 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night.

Dustin May, like Minter a Texas native, was starting for the Dodgers.

Minter had never started in the big leagues, in 139 regular-season games over four seasons or his five previous postseason appearances He was the fourth of seven pitchers the Braves used in Game 2, when they held on for an 8-7 win. This is his fourth appearance in these playoffs after an 0.83 ERA over 21 2-3 innings in 22 games during the regular season.

May pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his previous three appearances this postseason, including a start in the clinching Game 3 of the NL Division Series against San Diego when he pitched an inning in an opener role. He was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in the regular season, starting 10 of his 12 games.

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