Los Angeles @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 10, 2018 ) Atlanta 2, LA Dodgers 7

Max Muncy hit just five home runs in his first 215 major-league at-bats, which makes what the Los Angeles Dodgers infielder is doing this season all the more remarkable entering Thursday's opener of a four-game road series against the Atlanta Braves. Muncy belted his 24th shot in 250 at-bats this year in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss at Philadelphia and is just one shy of the National League lead as the Dodgers arrive in Atlanta holding a one-half game lead over Arizona in the NL West.

Homers are not unfamiliar to Los Angeles as it leads the NL with 139, although 98 have been solo shots, and the 27-year-old Muncy enters the series having reached base safely in 45 of his last 50 games. The Dodgers dropped two of three at Philadelphia and now take aim at the team trailing the Phillies by 1 ½ games in the NL East as the Braves open a seven-game homestand. Rumored to be interested in almost every reliever available leading up to Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, Atlanta owns a 4.29 bullpen ERA so far this month while losing 10 of its 17 contests. The good news is that Nick Markakis (.319) and Freddie Freeman (.318) are second and third, respectively, in the NL in hitting while the Braves rank second in the league in team batting at .261.

TV: 7:35 p.m. ET, MLB Network, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles), FS Southeast (Atlanta)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Rich Hill (3-4, 4.26 ERA) vs. Braves RH Anibal Sanchez (5-2, 2.76)

Hill has recovered from a blister that cost him a month of the season, and in seven appearances (six starts) since returning from the disabled list in June has posted a 2.95 ERA while holding opponents to a .226 batting average. The 38-year-old, who will make his 260th career appearance on Thursday, struck out nine while holding Milwaukee to one run and five hits over six innings on Friday to earn the victory. Hill, who is limiting left-handed hitters to a .639 OPS, defeated the Braves last year in his first appearance against them since 2013.

Sanchez matched a season high with eight strikeouts at Washington on Friday, limiting the Nationals to three runs and six hits in six innings to notch the victory. The 34-year-old continues to provide solid work in the middle of Atlanta’s young rotation, posting a 2.68 ERA with 54 strikeouts and only 14 walks in nine starts since the beginning of June. Sanchez beat the Dodgers on June 9, allowing two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 frames to improve to 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA in six career meetings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Freeman brings an eight-game hitting streak into the series, batting .371 with seven RBIs while recording five multi-hit performances during the run.

2. Los Angeles OF Joc Pederson hit .533 with three doubles and a homer in the series against Philadelphia.

3. Dodgers SS-3B Manny Machado is 7-for-27 with four walks in six games since being acquired from Baltimore.

PREDICTION: Braves 4, Dodgers 2