Series preview: Braves at Cardinals

TV: FSSO

Probable starting pitchers: Braves LH Manny Banuelos (1-1, 1.08 ERA) vs. LH Tim Cooney (0-0, 3.33)

Comment: Banuelos has yet to give up more than one earned run in each of his first three major league starts, but he has only won one of them — July 7 in Milwaukee. Cooney made his major league debut April 30 after Adam Wainwright went on the disabled list with a ruptured Achilles, and it went poorly (three earned runs in 2 1/3 innings). Cooney's second stint up from Triple-A in place of the injured Jaime Garcia (groin) has been better — he's posted a 2.45 ERA over four starts — though the Cardinals have lost all four of those starts.

Saturday

Time: 7:15 p.m.

TV: FS1

Probable starting pitchers: Braves RH Shelby Miller (5-6, 2.33) vs. RH Carlos Martinez (10-4, 2.51)

Comment: Miller will take the mound with something other than his 11-game winless streak on his mind. He's facing his former team, the one that drafted him in the first round in 2009, brought him to the big leagues in 2012 and ultimately traded him to the Braves in November. As for the winless streak, he's 0-5 since May 17 despite a 3.15 ERA in that span. He'll face the next wave of Cardinals pitching talent in Martinez, the 23-year-old Dominican who made his first All-Star team earlier this month. Martinez leads the Cardinals staff in ERA (2.51) and strikeouts (115) his first full season in the rotation.

Sunday

Time: 2:15 p.m.

TV: FSSO

Probable starting pitchers: RH Matt Wisler (4-1, 3.60) vs. RH Michael Wacha (10-3, 2.93)

Comment: Wacha has given up five earned runs in three of his past five starts and all three of those outings came on the road — at the Chicago White Sox, at the Chicago Cubs and in Philadelphia. He is still 7-2 with a 3.57 ERA on the road this season but even better at Busch Stadium, going 4-1 with a 2.64 ERA. Wisler benefited from the four runs the Braves scored early against former Brave Brandon Beachy on Monday night and won against the Dodgers despite allowing four runs of his own. Wisler has won four of his first six major league starts.

— Carroll Rogers Walton