Guardians take on the Braves in first of 3-game series

Atlanta Braves (53-68, fourth in the NL East) vs. Cleveland Guardians (63-57, second in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Hurston Waldrep (2-0, 1.54 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 10 strikeouts); Guardians: Joey Cantillo (3-2, 4.11 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 75 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Guardians -124, Braves +104; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians host the Atlanta Braves on Friday to begin a three-game series.

Cleveland has a 63-57 record overall and a 31-28 record at home. The Guardians are 32-11 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Atlanta has a 53-68 record overall and a 23-38 record in road games. The Braves rank sixth in the NL with 136 total home runs, averaging 1.1 per game.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Steven Kwan has 21 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 40 RBIs while hitting .275 for the Guardians. Jose Ramirez is 11 for 40 with two doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.

Matt Olson has 30 doubles and 19 home runs for the Braves. Michael Harris II is 16 for 41 with four doubles and four home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 7-3, .230 batting average, 4.00 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

Braves: 6-4, .246 batting average, 5.26 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Lane Thomas: 10-Day IL (foot), Will Brennan: 60-Day IL (forearm), Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Braves: Austin Riley: 10-Day IL (abdominal), Ronald Acuna: 10-Day IL (calf), Grant Holmes: 60-Day IL (elbow), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (rib), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (calf/elbow), Reynaldo Lopez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee)

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