Chicago Cubs (10-14, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Atlanta Braves (12-12, first in the NL East)
Atlanta; Thursday, 7:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Adbert Alzolay (0-2, 5.40 ERA, .93 WHIP, 17 strikeouts) Braves: Bryse Wilson (1-1, 5.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 5 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago enters the matchup as losers of their last five games.
The Braves are 7-6 in home games in 2020. Atlanta has slugged .434, good for second in the National League. Ronald Acuna Jr. leads the club with a .750 slugging percentage, including 15 extra-base hits and eight home runs.
The Cubs have gone 2-7 away from home. The Chicago offense has compiled a .203 batting average as a team this season, last in the MLB. Kris Bryant leads the team with an average of .300.
The Braves won the last meeting 10-0. Huascar Ynoa earned his second victory and Freddie Freeman went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Atlanta. Kyle Hendricks took his third loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Acuna Jr. leads the Braves with 15 extra base hits and is batting .350.
Bryant leads the Cubs with 24 hits and is batting .300.
LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 6-4, .245 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
Cubs: 4-6, .229 batting average, 5.52 ERA, outscored by four runs
INJURIES: Braves: Touki Toussaint: (right shoulder), Mike Soroka: (achilles), Sean Newcomb: (undisclosed), Chris Martin: (fingers), Max Fried: (hamstring), Ender Inciarte: (hamstring).
Cubs: Rowan Wick: (oblique), Shelby Miller: (back), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Joc Pederson: (wrist), Javier Baez: (hamstring), Austin Romine: (left wrist).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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