Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies' Pivetta carries unblemished record vs. Diamondbacks into matchup (Apr 16, 2018)

Published Apr. 16, 2018 11:44 p.m. ET

The Philadelphia Phillies are hopeful that the winning trend established by second-year pitcher Nick Pivetta will continue Tuesday when they play the middle game of a series against the Atlanta Braves.

Pivetta has never lost to the Braves, winning three of his four career starts.

Atlanta will send right-hander Mike Foltynewicz (1-1, 2.93 ERA) against Pivetta (1-1, 2.70) in a rematch of the second game of the season.

Atlanta won the opener of a three-game set on Monday as Julio Teheran outpitched Aaron Nola in a 2-1 victory. That ended Philadelphia's six-game win streak. Atlanta has won three of four games between the National League East rivals.

Pivetta has looked good in all three of his starts, each of them victories for Philadelphia. He's coming off a seven-inning effort against Cincinnati, allowing two runs in seven innings, but did not figure in the decision.

"He was really fighting to stay in that game," Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler said. "He knew we were thinking about taking him out and he wanted that seventh inning and verbalized it. It was cool to see. There was no question in his eyes."

Pivetta went only four innings when he faced Foltynewicz on March 30 in Atlanta. He allowed three hits and struck out two.

In four career starts against Atlanta, Pivetta is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 21 innings. That includes his first career win, which came against the Braves on June 5, and six scoreless innings on Sept. 24.

Foltynewicz has been solid in each of his three starts this season. He has not allowed more than three runs and has 18 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings. But Atlanta needs Foltynewicz to go deeper in games; he has not yet pitched more than 5 1/3 innings.

In his last outing, Foltynewicz went five innings and allowed three runs (two earned) and two walks in a loss to Washington.

Foltynewicz will be making his second start of the season against the Phillies. He received no decision against the Phillies on March 30 after going five innings and striking out seven.

He will be making his eighth career start against Philadelphia. Foltynewicz is 3-2 with a 4.39 ERA against the Phillies with 42 strikeouts in 41 innings.

The Atlanta pitching staff was able to quiet the Philly bats in the first game. The Phillies had scored 36 games during their six-game winning streak but managed only one run and six hits on Monday. The exception was Odubel Herrera, who had two hits -- one of them a homer -- and lifted his batting average to .340.

Atlanta rookie second baseman Ozzie Albies continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to five games. During that stretch, Albies is hitting .521 (12-for-23).

Albies has used his speed, too. On Monday, he scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly.

"He's a very skilled young man and he can do a lot of things to help you win a game," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "It's nice to have a guy who can run like that."