Major League Baseball

Athletics, Gray to face Braves, Foltynewicz (Jun 30, 2017)

Published Jun. 30, 2017 2:54 a.m. ET

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AP

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Two losing teams playing their best ball of the season collide Friday night when the Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics begin a three-game series.

The National League East and American League West teams will be meeting for the first time since 2014 and first time in Oakland since 2003.

Atlanta has beaten the A's four straight, all at home, and leads the all-time series 8-4.

The Braves were beaten two of three in San Diego in a set that ended Thursday night, their first losing series since June 9-11 against the New York Mets.

They've gone 10-6 since, giving them a 15-12 record in June and assuring their first winning month this season.

Right-hander Mike Foltynewicz will try to make it a 16-win month when he pitches the series opener Friday.

He has faced the A's once in his career, and it was a brief appearance. He came on to get the final out for the Houston Astros in a game in 2014 and walked two batters before recording a strikeout.

The 25-year-old is a big reason for the club's turnaround month in June. Other than a poor outing at Washington in which he was bombed for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings, he has surrendered just three runs and 17 hits in 25 innings in his four other starts, going 2-0.

He's 5-5 after an 0-4 start.

The A's, who flew home from Houston on Thursday night after completing a three-game series with the Astros in the afternoon, will counter with right-hander Sonny Gray.

The staff ace is coming off his best effort in more than a month, having allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits in a win over the Chicago White Sox. It is Gray's only win since May 24.

Like Foltynewicz, Gray has pitched against Friday's opponent only once in his career. He was beaten 4-3 at Atlanta in 2014, allowing four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Gray will be facing a Braves team that could be missing a key piece.

First baseman Matt Adams, acquired in a trade with St. Louis earlier this month, had to leave a 6-0 loss to the Padres on Thursday with a bruised left foot. X-rays were negative, but he remains questionable for the series opener in Oakland.

"We'll evaluate him (Friday) and see where we're at," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "Glad we're playing at night (on Friday) so we can have all day and check him, see where he's at."

The Braves already are without their top offensive threat, Freddie Freeman, who suffered a wrist injury last month. He is expected to start an injury-rehab stint at Triple-A Gwinnett this weekend.

The A's, meanwhile, will show off middle-infield prospect Franklin Barreto to the home fans for the first time after he was promoted from the minors while the club was on its just completed trip.

The 21-year-old homered in his major league debut Saturday in Chicago.

The A's finished the trip with two straight losses after four wins in a row. They've won seven straight games in which the Astros weren't the opponent.

"Compared to what we've been doing, we'll take it," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "It's something to build on."

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