Major League Baseball

Diamondbacks-Braves Preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:18 p.m. ET

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Following a couple of rocky performances, Patrick Corbin felt he took a step toward getting on track last time out by showing more confidence in his changeup.

Now there's reason to believe he'll make progress Sunday when the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks look to sweep a historically bad Atlanta Braves team he's dominated.

In his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery prior to 2014, Corbin (1-3, 4.91 ERA) had a 2.75 ERA in his first three starts before falling on tough times.

He allowed 12 runs over 11 2/3 innings in dropping two straight starts before showing improvement Tuesday when he gave up three over 5 1/3 in a 7-4 loss at Miami.

"I felt better," Corbin told the league's official website. "I felt pretty good with all my pitches. I was just trying to keep the ball down. I brought my changeup back a little more and got some outs with that."

Corbin hopes to use a similar approach as he tries to lead Arizona (14-18) to its first three-game winning streak since a season-high five-game run from April 17-21.

He's 2-0 in three games versus Atlanta, allowing seven hits over 16 2/3 scoreless innings. It's the longest stretch by an Arizona pitcher against one opponent to start a career.

Atlanta's Freddie Freeman had a solo shot in Saturday's 4-2 loss. After a slow start, he's batting .425 with three homers and four doubles over his last 11 games.

Still, the Braves (7-22) rank last in baseball with a .224 batting average. They've also averaged just 2.3 runs while dropping 13 of their last 16 games.

Atlanta is off to the worst start in franchise history dating to 1900 and owns the worst home start (1-14) for any team since the 1913 Yankees lost their first 15.

The Braves will try to score some runs for Mike Foltynewicz as they look to avoid a 10th straight home defeat. The right-hander allowed four runs and eight hits - including three homers - over 3 2/3 innings in Monday's 4-1 loss to the New York Mets.

The 24-year-old made no excuses despite making his first major league start since undergoing emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in September.

"I was ready for this game, and it was probably the best I've felt all year coming into the game," said Foltynewicz, who threw 42 pitches in the first inning. "But I might have gotten a little too amped up in the first."

Foltynewicz has struggled in two career starts versus Arizona, allowing 11 runs and 17 hits over 10 1/3 innings. Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas are both 2 for 3 with a double off him, while David Peralta is 3 for 5 with a home run and a double.

Tomas could return after missing two games due to an undisclosed ailment.

Brandon Drury had three hits and Jean Segura and Lamb had two apiece Saturday. Drury has hit .365 with five homers, seven doubles and nine RBIs in his last 15 games.

Since averaging 2 runs and hitting .226 during a six-game losing streak, the Diamondbacks have totaled 11 runs and 20 hits in winning the first two in this series.

They haven't swept a series at Turner Field since taking four in a row there in 2006.

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