Braves' opponent: Pittsburgh Pirates
Keep an eye on: The Pirates rotation. Given the way the schedule falls, the Braves don't have to face the Pirates' top two starters in Gerrit Cole, the NL leader in wins (11), or A.J. Burnett, who is fourth in the NL with a 2.05 ERA. That leaves Francisco Liriano (3.26 ERA), Charlie Morton (3.97) and Jeff Locke (4.73), who gave up a combined 16 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings their last time through the order.
Who's hot: Josh Harrison had hit safely in 10 of his previous 12 games entering Thursday, while batting .417 (20-for-48) with three doubles and four RBIs. He had two four-hit games in a four-day span to start the hot streak.
Who's not: Starling Marte was 3-for-23 with six strikeouts over his previous seven games entering Thursday.
Braves connection: The Braves face a couple of familiar faces for the second time this month in Morton and Locke. Each one gave up four runs to the Braves when the Pirates were in Atlanta in early June, but Morton came away with a win in a 10-8 game and Locke took a no-decision in a 5-4 loss.
In the news: Chris Volstad, the former Marlin, has returned to the major leagues for the first time since 2013 as a reliever for the Pirates. Volstad, who has spent time pitching in both Korea and in the minors, was called up when Corey Hart (shoulder) went on the disabled list Wednesday and pitched two scoreless innings that night.
