The Braves host the Cubs tonight in the second game of a three-game series at SunTrust Park, where the Braves have lost four in a row and have an 8-8 home record compared with their 17-8 road mark.
The Cubs have won five consecutive games in Atlanta, including their last two at Turner Field and their first four at SunTrust Park.
Here are five things to know about tonight’s game:
1. Since April 25, the day Ronald Acuna arrived from Triple-A and joined the lineup, the Braves have gone 13-2 on the road with 88 runs scored (5.9 per game), an .840 OPS and a 2.50 ERA and .630 opponents' OPS. In that same span, the Braves are 0-4 at home with 11 runs scored (2.75 per game), a .618 OPS and 6.50 ERA and .852 opponents' OPS.
2. Tonight's Braves starter Brandon McCarthy was 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA, .258 opponents' average and .740 opponents' OPS in his first six starts. He's 0-2 with a 15.12 ERA and 1.402 opponents' OPS in his past two starts, with 23 hits, 14 runs and three homers allowed in a total of 8 1/3 innings in those losses at home against the Giants and at Miami.
3. McCarthy is 2-1 with a 1.11 ERA in five career games games against the Cubs including four starts. He was 2-0 with 12 scoreless innings in two starts against them in 2017, allowing six total hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts while lasting six innings in each game. His Dodgers won both by scores of 2-0 and 5-0. Ben Zobrist is 6-for-24 with one homer and two strikeouts against him, Jason Heyward is 3-for-7, Anthony Rizzo is 1-for-6 and Kris Bryant is 0-for-4.
4. Tonight's Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood went 0-3 with a 4.60 ERA in his first three starts this season, allowing 14 hits, 14 walks and a .384 opponents' OBP. He's 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his past four starts, still allowing 18 walks in 22 innings but reducing the hits to 12 for a .171 opponents' average in those four games. The Cubs scored an average of 8.2 runs per nine innings that Chatwood pitched in his past four starts.
5. Against the Braves, Chatwood is 2-2 with a 5.60 ERA in seven games including five starts. His past two outings against them were in relief in 2017, when he limited the Braves to one hit and one walk in a combined four scoreless innings. Against the righty, Freddie Freeman is 7-for-13 with two doubles, Kurt Suzuki is 3-for-8 and Nick Markakis 2-for-5.
