Texas Rangers (11-9, first in the AL West) vs. Atlanta Braves (12-5, first in the NL East)
Atlanta; Friday, 7:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Andrew Heaney (0-2, 6.75 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 10 strikeouts); Braves: Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 20 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Braves -200, Rangers +168; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves open a three-game series at home against the Texas Rangers on Friday.
Atlanta has a 12-5 record overall and a 4-2 record at home. The Braves are 10-1 in games when they out-hit their opponents.
Texas has an 11-9 record overall and a 6-4 record in road games. Rangers hitters are batting a collective .262, which ranks second in the AL.
The matchup Friday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Orlando Arcia leads the Braves with a .377 batting average, and has eight doubles, a home run, four walks and eight RBI. Marcell Ozuna is 15-for-40 with four home runs and 13 RBI over the past 10 games.
Adolis Garcia leads the Rangers with five home runs while slugging .568. Marcus Semien is 13-for-44 with five doubles, two home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 7-3, .284 batting average, 4.70 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
Rangers: 5-5, .246 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by two runs
INJURIES: Braves: Ozzie Albies: 10-Day IL (toe), Spencer Strider: 15-Day IL (right elbow strain), Sean Murphy: 10-Day IL (oblique strain), Angel Perdomo: 15-Day IL (elbow)
Rangers: Brock Burke: 60-Day IL (hand), Cody Bradford: 15-Day IL (back), Justin Foscue: 60-Day IL (oblique strain), Joshua Jung: 60-Day IL (wrist), Josh Sborz: 15-Day IL (rotator cuff), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (back), Tyler Mahle: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan Hernandez: 15-Day IL (lat), Nate Lowe: 10-Day IL (oblique), Jacob deGrom: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carson Coleman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
