Series preview: Braves vs. Diamondbacks
When (TV): 7:35 p.m. Friday, 4:05 p.m. Saturday, 1:35 p.m. Sunday (FSSO)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5
Probable starting pitchers:
Friday: Braves RH Julio Teheran (5-4, 3.32 ERA) vs. RH Randall Delgado (0-1, 5.40)
Saturday: Braves RH Tim Hudson (4-7, 4.10) vs. RH Ian Kennedy (3-4, 5.21)
Sunday: Braves LH Paul Maholm (8-6, 3.75) vs. RH Trevor Cahill (3-9, 4.29)
About the Braves:
Batting: Jason Heyward is 28-for-92 (.304) with five doubles, four homers and a .366 OBP in his past 23 games. Jordan Schafer is 29-for-88 (.330) with 10 extra-base hits, a .379 OBP and .539 slugging percentage in his past 40 games. Justin Upton is 16-for-92 (.174) with one extra-base hit, 27 strikeouts and a .250 OBP in 24 home games in May and June.
Pitching: Teheran has a 2.50 ERA and 41 strikeouts (seven walks) in 39 2/3 innings over his past six starts, including four with two or fewer runs allowed in six or more innings. He's only 2-3 in that period, mostly because of poor run support. He allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings Friday at Milwaukee, and the Braves lost 2-0. He's 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts against Arizona, including a May 14 loss in which he allowed two runs in six innings in another 2-0 shutout. Hudson is 7-1 with a 1.86 ERA in 10 starts vs. the Diamondbacks, and Maholm is 1-3 with a 4.62 ERA in seven starts.
Miscellaneous: Freddie Freeman has hit .431 (25-for-58) with 12 extra-base hits (three homers) and 16 RBIs in 15 career games against Arizona, including 5-for-13 with three doubles in three games at Phoenix in May. The Braves' majors-best home ERA (2.44) is nearly a run and a half lower than their 3.90 road ERA, tied with Philadelphia for sixth in the National League.
About the Diamondbacks:
Batting: Paul Goldschmidt had 19 homers, a .957 OPS and a league-high 67 RBIs before Thursday's series finale at Washington and hit .320 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs in his past 45 games. He had four homers in his past eight games. Goldschmidt ranked third in the NL with a .420 average with runners in scoring position and had 11 homers and 44 RBIs in 40 road games. Ex-Brave Martin Prado was hitting .241 with six homers and a .292 OBP and 12-for-68 (.176) with runners in scoring position.
Pitching: Delgado will face the team that signed him a teen, developed him and had him for six pro seasons before trading him to Arizona in January with Prado and prospects in exchange for Justin Upton and Chris Johnson. Delgado was 2-5 with a 5.91 ERA in 13 Triple-A starts before being recalled by Arizona. After allowing two runs and four hits in two relief innings in his season debut, he's 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts. In 14 career starts at Turner Field, he's 2-6 with a 3.71 ERA. The only Brave with more than two at-bats against Delgado is Jordan Schafer (2-for-3).
Miscellaneous: Delgado's first start against his old team will be a matchup with his good friend Teheran. They were the Braves' top two pitching prospects for a couple of years. Prado has a .309 career average in 335 games at Turner Field, with 94 doubles, 25 homers, 155 RBIs, a .350 OBP and .459 slugging percentage. Arizona was 6-10 with a 4.02 ERA and 61 runs in its past 16 games before Thursday, and scored three runs or fewer in nine of those games. They were 6-12 with a 5.08 ERA and seven home runs hit in their past 18 road games before Thursday's series finale at Washington.
