Atlanta @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 2, 2015 ) Atlanta 6, Philadelphia 2

The battle to avoid the basement in the National League East takes a head-to-head turn when the Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a three-game series on Monday. The Braves are losers of 12 straight but still sit one game ahead of the Phillies in the East.

The two recently-great franchises are both struggling through lost seasons as they attempt to turn over their rosters for the future. Philadelphia watched some of its future get hammered when rookie starters Alec Asher, Adam Morgan and Jerad Eickhoff all got beat up while the team was swept in a three-game series at the Boston Red Sox over the weekend. Atlanta is having its own problems developing young starters and watched Manny Banuelos get knocked around in an 8-4 loss to Washington on Sunday that gave the franchise its longest slide since 1988. The Braves are losers of 19 of their last 20 games and will send Williams Perez up against Aaron Harang on Monday.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Williams Perez (4-6, 5.65 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.89)

Perez is winless in his last eight starts and allowed at least four earned runs in six of those turns. The Venezuela native was knocked around for six runs (four earned) on nine hits in five innings to lose to Miami on Wednesday. Perez was even less effective at Philadelphia on July 31, when he surrendered nine runs on as many hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Harang has not been any better of late and was knocked around for four runs on five hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings at the New York Mets on Tuesday. The veteran is winless in his last six starts and yielded at least four earned runs in five of those six. Harang’s last win came against Atlanta on July 30, when he scattered nine hits and one run across five innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Braves CF Cameron Maybin (cornea abrasion) will likely miss the next few games while 3B Hector Olivera (foot) could return on Monday.

2. Philadelphia CF Odubel Herrera is 13-for-25 over his last six games.

3. Atlanta has not lost 13 in a row since a 17-game slide in 1977.

PREDICTION: Phillies 4, Braves 3