Braves' opponent: Philadelphia Phillies
Keep an eye on: Ryan Howard. He entered Sunday's game against Boston on an 0-for-17 streak, but the Braves won't exactly rest easy. Howard has hit 50 home runs in his career against the Braves – that's one every 14.12 plate appearances against them. That's the second most homers by any player against any team since Howard entered the league in 2004, according to Stats Inc. (David Ortiz has 53 home runs against the Blue Jays in that span.) This season Howard is hitting .333 (14-for-42) with four doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs in 12 games against the Braves.
Who's hot: Odubel Herrera was 10-for-21 (.476) with a double and a homer over his past five games entering Sunday.
Who's not: Freddy Galvis was 4-for-his-past-21 (.190) over his previous six games entering Sunday.
Braves connection: Former Brave and Parkview High graduate Jeff Francoeur has had a solid season in his first full year back in the big leagues since 2012. He was hitting .271 entering play Sunday with 14 doubles, 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 100 games for the Phillies, who elected to keep Francoeur for the stretch run rather than trade him. Former Brave Aaron Harang, who pitches in the series opener against Atlanta, is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts against the Braves this season.
In the news: This will be the first time the Braves have faced the Phillies without Chase Utley on the Phillies roster since 2002. Utley was traded to the Dodgers on Aug. 19 where he is hitting .250 in 14 games.
