Atlanta @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 25, 2017 ) Milwaukee 7, Atlanta 0

Two of the best teams in the National League square off Thursday when the Milwaukee Brewers – the first team in the league to reach 50 wins – open a four-game home series against the Atlanta Braves, who are one victory away from 50 on the season. The Brewers finished a three-game sweep of Minnesota on Wednesday and have won five of their past seven, while the Braves dropped two in a row to the Yankees after winning the first four games of a 10-game road trip.

A reason behind Milwaukee’s surge in the standings is the strong season of first baseman Jesus Aguilar, who is hitting .356 with eight homers and 18 RBIs in his past 17 games. The Brewers slugged three homers in Wednesday’s 3-2 victory, the 10th consecutive game a Milwaukee hitter has hit a homer and gives the Brewers 111 longballs on the season – second in the NL to Los Angeles. One concern for the Braves entering the series is the health of first baseman Freddie Freeman, a potential NL MVP candidate who left Wednesday’s game with a right triceps contusion after being hit with a pitch and is considered day-to-day. Second baseman Ozzie Albies finished with three hits in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss at New York, his eighth multi-hit performance in his last 11 games giving him 102 hits on the season.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Max Fried (1-2, 2.55 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Jhoulys Chacin (6-3, 3.71)

Fried made the most of a spot start Saturday in St. Louis, holding the Cardinals to four hits across 6 2/3 scoreless innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts. The 24-year-old is 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA in two starts for the Braves in 2018 and in six career starts in the majors has posted a 2.40 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 30 innings. Fried made four relief appearances earlier this season, giving up four runs on five hits in six innings.

Chacin has followed up his 13-win season with San Diego in 2017 with a strong first half in his first season with the Brewers. The 30-year old has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 13 of his 18 starts, including three of his last four outings – surrendering one run on four hits in five innings Saturday against Cincinnati. Chacin, who went 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts with the Braves in 2016, is holding right-handed batters to a .211 average and has allowed only seven homers overall in 97 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Atlanta 3B Johan Camargo has a 10-game hitting and is hitting .357 in that stretch with a pair of homers.

2. The Brewers are 44-14 when hitting at least one homer this season and are 7-21 when going homerless.

3. Milwaukee’s bullpen has been outstanding in posting a 3.03 ERA, while Atlanta relievers have a 4.21 ERA.

PREDICTION: Brewers 3, Braves 2