Atlanta Braves (40-52, fourth in the NL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (50-44, third in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Grant Holmes (4-8, 3.44 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 118 strikeouts); Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore (6-6, 3.70 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -120, Braves +100; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals host the Atlanta Braves on Friday to open a three-game series.

St. Louis is 50-44 overall and 28-18 in home games. The Cardinals have hit 94 total home runs to rank eighth in the NL.

Atlanta has a 16-30 record in road games and a 40-52 record overall. The Braves have the 10th-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .384.

The matchup Friday is the fourth time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brendan Donovan has 22 doubles and eight home runs while hitting .296 for the Cardinals. Willson Contreras is 11 for 34 with three doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Matt Olson has 17 home runs, 55 walks and 58 RBIs while hitting .267 for the Braves. Austin Riley is 13 for 43 with five doubles, two home runs and five RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .230 batting average, 5.08 ERA, outscored by 20 runs

Braves: 2-8, .217 batting average, 4.15 ERA, outscored by 12 runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Jordan Walker: 10-Day IL (appendicitis), Ivan Herrera: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)

Braves: Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (rib), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (calf/elbow), Reynaldo Lopez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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