Cardinals visit the Braves to open 3-game series

St. Louis Cardinals (50-46, second in the NL Central) vs. Atlanta Braves (53-42, second in the NL East)

Atlanta; Friday, 7:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Sonny Gray (9-6, 3.34 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 121 strikeouts); Braves: Spencer Schwellenbach (3-4, 4.43 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 41 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday to open a three-game series.

Atlanta is 29-17 at home and 53-42 overall. The Braves have hit 109 total home runs to rank fourth in the NL.

St. Louis has a 24-24 record in road games and a 50-46 record overall. The Cardinals have a 15-9 record in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The teams meet Friday for the fourth time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Marcell Ozuna has 20 doubles and 26 home runs for the Braves. Austin Riley is 10-for-36 with four doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Nolan Gorman leads the Cardinals with 17 home runs while slugging .413. Nolan Arenado is 15-for-39 with a double, a home run and six RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 6-4, .229 batting average, 2.83 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs

Cardinals: 5-5, .284 batting average, 5.44 ERA, outscored by one run

INJURIES: Braves: Ramon Laureano: 10-Day IL (oblique), Raymond Kerr: 60-Day IL (elbow), Spencer Strider: 60-Day IL (elbow), Hurston Waldrep: 15-Day IL (elbow), Huascar Ynoa: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Harris II: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Ronald Acuna Jr.: 60-Day IL (knee), Jimmy Herget: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Matzek: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Perdomo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Cardinals: Mike Siani: day-to-day (elbow), Steven Matz: 60-Day IL (back), Keynan Middleton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Nick Robertson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Riley O'Brien: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tommy Edman: 60-Day IL (wrist), Drew Rom: 60-Day IL (biceps)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.