Braves host the Cardinals following Morton's strong outing

Updated Jun. 18, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

St. Louis Cardinals (35-34, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Atlanta Braves (31-35, third in the NL East)

Atlanta; Friday, 7:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (3-7, 5.54 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) Braves: Max Fried (3-4, 4.80 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 49 strikeouts)

LINE: Braves -182, Cardinals +158; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Atlanta heads into the matchup after a dominant performance by Charlie Morton. Morton pitched 7 2/3 innings, surrendering zero runs on three hits with seven strikeouts against St. Louis.

The Braves are 18-19 in home games in 2020. Atlanta's team on-base percentage of .313 is fourth in the National League. Ronald Acuna Jr. leads the club with an OBP of .396.

The Cardinals are 16-19 on the road. St. Louis' team on-base percentage of .294 is last in the National League. Dylan Carlson leads the team with an OBP of .344.

The Braves won the last meeting 4-0. Charlie Morton notched his sixth victory and Guillermo Heredia went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and an RBI for Atlanta. John Gant registered his fifth loss for St. Louis.

TOP PERFORMERS: Acuna Jr. leads the Braves with 67 hits and has 43 RBIs.

Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 33 extra base hits and 44 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 4-6, .250 batting average, 4.41 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Cardinals: 4-6, .223 batting average, 4.40 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

INJURIES: Braves: Huascar Ynoa: (hand), Touki Toussaint: (right shoulder), Mike Soroka: (achilles), Grant Dayton: (shoulder), Tucker Davidson: (forearm), Marcell Ozuna: (hand), Alex Jackson: (left hamstring), Travis d'Arnaud: (left thumb).

Cardinals: Kodi Whitley: (undisclosed), Miles Mikolas: (forearm), Dakota Hudson: (right elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (side), Justin Williams: (neck), Harrison Bader: (rib), Max Moroff: (shoulder).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.