San Francisco @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( May 23, 2019 ) Atlanta 5, San Francisco 4

Ronald Acuna Jr. hit just .203 during an 18-game stretch as perhaps the pressure of chasing a 40-homer, 40-steal season impacted him, but the Atlanta Braves outfielder has moved closer to history - while moving his team to the verge of a division title - entering Friday’s home game with the San Francisco Giants. Acuna belted his 40th homer in Thursday’s 5-4 victory over Philadelphia, reducing Atlanta’s magic number to win its second straight National League East crown to one.

Acuna stands three steals shy of becoming the fifth player in major-league history to record a 40-40 season, and his 432-foot blast Thursday made him just the third player age 21 or younger to belt 40 homers in a season. The Braves had lost three in a row entering Thursday - scoring just five runs in that stretch - but saw rookie outfielder/infielder Austin Riley hit his first homer since Aug. 2 while Freddie Freeman drove in two runs, giving him 119 on the season. San Francisco enters the weekend winners of four of its past six games after a 5-4 loss Thursday at Boston, scoring 22 runs while winning two of the three against the Red Sox. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski went 1-for-2 Thursday to extend his hitting streak to four games, and owns hits in 13 of his past 16 contests with 11 runs scored, three doubles, two homers and five RBIs.

TV: 7:20 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco), FS South (Atlanta)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Tyler Beede (5-9, 5.02 ERA) vs. Braves RH Mike Foltynewicz (7-5, 4.80)

Beede has struggled at times in his first full big-league season but also has experienced some success, such as going 2-2 in his past five starts with a 2.52 ERA, 24 hits allowed and 20 strikeouts in 25 innings. The 26-year-old has won his past two outings, holding Miami to three hits with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 scoreless innings Sept. 13, six days after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers with four hits allowed and five strikeouts across five scoreless frames. Beede, who went winless in nine consecutive starts before those back-to-back wins, is 4-5 with a 5.79 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 13 road games (12 starts).

Foltynewicz has completely reversed his season after an awful start and demotion to the minors, going 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and .228 opponents batting average with 43 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings in eight starts since returning to the majors. The 27-year-old has surrendered just two runs in 18 innings across three September starts, holding Washington to one run on four hits with five strikeouts over six innings Saturday as the Braves improved to 8-0 in his starts since being recalled. Foltynewicz is 3-3 with a 4.47 ERA in seven career starts against the Giants.

WALK-OFFS

1. Giants 1B Brandon Belt and SS Brandon Crawford each went hitless in pinch-hit appearances Thursday, ending their six-game hitting streaks.

2. Atlanta 3B Josh Donaldson, who did not play Thursday for the first time since May 22, has 30 homers with a .921 OPS since that date.

3. San Francisco is 37-16 in one-run games this season, and seven of its eight September victories have come by that margin.

PREDICTION: Braves 5, Giants 2