Pirates host the Braves to open 3-game series

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Atlanta Braves (52-37, first in the NL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-45, fourth in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Hurston Waldrep (0-0, 3.68 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, seven strikeouts); Pirates: Paul Skenes (6-8, 3.62 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 119 strikeouts)

LINE: Pirates -177, Braves +145; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates host the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday to begin a three-game series.

Pittsburgh has a 46-45 record overall and a 23-22 record in home games. Pirates hitters are batting a collective .262, which ranks second in the NL.

Atlanta has gone 25-19 in road games and 52-37 overall. The Braves have gone 38-14 in games when they record at least eight hits.

Tuesday's game is the fourth time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Lowe leads the Pirates with 21 home runs while slugging .498. Esmerlyn Valdez is 17 for 38 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games.

Matt Olson leads the Braves with 24 home runs while slugging .546. Michael Harris II is 13 for 42 with two home runs and 11 RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 5-5, .299 batting average, 5.90 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Braves: 4-6, .229 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Evan Sisk: 15-Day IL (elbow), Wilber Dotel: 15-Day IL (lat), Chris Devenski: 60-Day IL (illness), Spencer Horwitz: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Oneil Cruz: 10-Day IL (hand)

Braves: Martin Perez: 15-Day IL (forearm), Ha-Seong Kim: 10-Day IL (finger), Spencer Strider: 60-Day IL (elbow), Robert Suarez: 15-Day IL (elbow), Ronald Acuna Jr.: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Sean Murphy: 60-Day IL (finger), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee), Joey Wentz: 60-Day IL (knee)

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