Smyly expected to start for the Braves against the Rays

Updated Jul. 18, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Tampa Bay Rays (54-38, second in the AL East) vs. Atlanta Braves (45-46, third in the NL East)

Atlanta; Sunday, 1:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Rich Hill (6-4, 3.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 87 strikeouts) Braves: Drew Smyly (7-3, 4.48 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 68 strikeouts)

LINE: Braves -108, Rays -108; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Atlanta and Tampa Bay will play on Sunday.

The Braves are 25-23 in home games in 2020. Atlanta's lineup has 128 home runs this season, Ronald Acuna Jr. leads them with 24 homers.

The Rays have gone 26-21 away from home. Tampa Bay has a collective .229 this season, led by Joey Wendle with an average of .281.

The Braves won the last meeting 9-0. Max Fried notched his seventh victory and Freddie Freeman went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for Atlanta. Josh Fleming took his fifth loss for Tampa Bay.

TOP PERFORMERS: Freeman ranks second on the Braves with 21 home runs and is slugging .510.

Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with 21 home runs and has 48 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 5-5, .265 batting average, 4.35 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

Rays: 7-3, .237 batting average, 3.60 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs

INJURIES: Braves: Huascar Ynoa: (hand), Mike Soroka: (achilles), Grant Dayton: (shoulder), Tucker Davidson: (forearm), Ian Anderson: (shoulder), Marcell Ozuna: (hand), Ronald Acuna Jr.: (knee), Alex Jackson: (left hamstring), Travis d'Arnaud: (left thumb).

Rays: Ryan Thompson: (shoulder), Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), Tyler Glasnow: (elbow), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Chris Archer: (forearm), Nick Anderson: (elbow), Manuel Margot: (hamstring), Mike Brosseau: (oblique).

___

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