Atlanta Braves (46-33, first in the NL East) vs. Chicago Cubs (43-35, first in the NL Central)
Chicago; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Max Fried (8-3, 4.03 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 76 strikeouts) Cubs: Adbert Alzolay (1-0, 2.25 ERA, .75 WHIP, 5 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE:
The Cubs are 28-14 on their home turf. The Chicago pitching staff owns a team ERA of 3.91, Cole Hamels leads the staff with a mark of 2.92.
The Braves are 22-16 on the road. Atlanta has slugged .461, good for second in the majors. Freddie Freeman leads the club with a .601 slugging percentage, including 44 extra-base hits and 21 home runs. The Cubs won the last meeting 8-3. Jon Lester earned his seventh victory and Willson Contreras went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Chicago. Julio Teheran registered his sixth loss for Atlanta.
TOP PERFORMERS: Javier Baez leads the Cubs with 88 hits and has 52 RBIs. Kris Bryant has 13 hits and is batting .351 over the last 10 games for Chicago.
Freeman leads the Braves with 21 home runs and has 61 RBIs. Josh Donaldson has 16 hits and is batting .390 over the last 10 games for Atlanta.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .241 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Braves: 6-4, .298 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
Cubs Injuries: Allen Webster: 60-day IL (hand), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Kyle Hendricks: 10-day IL (shoulder), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Carl Edwards Jr.: 10-day IL (shoulder), Xavier Cedeno: 10-day IL (wrist).
Braves Injuries: Mike Soroka: day-to-day (arm), Darren O'Day: 60-day IL (forearm), Sean Newcomb: 7-day IL (concussion), Kevin Gausman: 10-day IL (foot), Ender Inciarte: 10-day IL (lumbar strain).
