Friday’s game: Braves at Pirates

Probable starting pitchers: Braves RH Williams Perez (4-0, 2.78 ERA) vs. LH Francisco Liriano (4-6, 3.26)

What's new: The Braves are 9-13 at PNC Park over the past seven seasons, with series losses in five of the past seven meetings. They'll face a Pirates team that has cooled off from its eight-game winning streak earlier this month and had lost four of its previous five games entering Thursday. Nick Markakis is the only Brave other than Freddie Freeman, who is on the DL, to have much success against Liriano. Markakis is 6-for-17 (.353) against him with three RBIs. After hitting in seven straight, Juan Uribe was just 1-for-17 in his past six games entering Thursday. Entering play Thursday, the Braves were hitting .281 as a team in June, which led all National League teams, but were just 10-12 on the month.

- Carroll Rogers Walton