Atlanta @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 24, 2019 ) Kansas City 2, Atlanta 0

The Atlanta Braves enter the final week of the regular season with their focus solely on the National League Division Series, but the NL East champions head to Kansas City to open a two-game series Tuesday missing one of their top players. First baseman Freddie Freeman, who begins the week tied for tops in the majors with 121 RBIs, will not make the trip after experiencing pain from a bone spur in his right elbow in Sunday’s loss to San Francisco.

The Braves are confident the combination of off days Monday and Thursday, plus resting for the Royals series, will have Freeman – a potential MVP candidate hitting .296 with a .946 OPS, 38 homers and 34 doubles, but with just two hits in his previous 26 at-bats – ready for Friday’s series opener against the Mets. Freeman’s absence plus having the designated hitter in the two games at Kansas City will allow Atlanta to give at-bats to several players competing for a spot on the playoff roster, including Adam Duvall, Austin Riley and Francisco Cervelli. The Royals have lost eight of their past 10 games following Sunday’s 12-8 defeat at Minnesota but will have extra motivation to finish strong as manager Ned Yost – the winningest skipper in franchise history – announced Monday he will retire at season’s end. Left fielder Whit Merrifield went 3-for-5 on Sunday to reach 200 hits, becoming the eighth Kansas City player to reach that mark, and he entered Monday leading the majors in hits and at-bats (663) with 40 doubles, 16 homers, 19 stolen bases and a .302 average.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS Kansas City

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Julio Teheran (10-10, 3.55 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.30)

Teheran has scuffled a bit during his past two starts, giving up eight earned runs (nine total) on eight hits with five homers allowed in nine innings of back-to-back losses. The 28-year-old has been consistently good for the Braves most of this season, allowing one earned run or fewer in 17 of his 32 starts and only giving up more than four earned runs six times. Teheran, who started the week tied for the major-league lead with 82 walks, surrendered two unearned runs on four hits with six strikeouts in six innings of a 2-0 loss July 24 against the Royals in Atlanta.

Duffy has excelled since missing most of August with a left hamstring strain, pitching to a 1.78 ERA with a .170 opponents batting average across four starts with 15 hits allowed and 20 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings. The 30-year-old made one of his best starts of the season Wednesday at Oakland, allowing just two hits with one walk and six strikeouts across seven shutout innings, following two six-inning outings in which he allowed just one run in each start. Duffy faced the Braves on July 23 in Atlanta, striking out a season-high 11 with one run surrendered in six innings of a no-decision.

WALK-OFFS

1. Royals SS Adalberto Mondesi, who is second in the majors with 43 stolen bases, is finished for the season after injuring his left shoulder while diving for a grounder in the first inning of Sunday's game.

2. Braves SS Dansby Swanson figures to play most, if not all, of Atlanta’s final five games to try and break out of a 10-for-74 slump since returning from a right heel injury on Aug. 26.

3. Kansas City pitching held Atlanta to four runs on 16 hits with three walks and 22 strikeouts in sweeping a two-game series from the Braves in July.

PREDICTION: Braves 4, Royals 3