Pirates look to end 3-game slide against Braves

Updated May. 20, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Pittsburgh Pirates (17-25, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Atlanta Braves (20-23, third in the NL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Wil Crowe (0-2, 4.36 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 17 strikeouts) Braves: Drew Smyly (2-2, 5.23 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)

LINE: Braves -199, Pirates +172; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

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BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh enters the matchup as losers of their last three games.

The Braves are 10-13 in home games in 2020. Atlanta has hit a league-leading 63 home runs this season, Ronald Acuna Jr. leads the club with 13 homers.

The Pirates are 9-14 on the road. Pittsburgh has slugged .343, last in the league. Adam Frazier leads the club with a .458 slugging percentage, including 17 extra-base hits.

TOP PERFORMERS: Acuna Jr. leads the Braves with 13 home runs and has 25 RBIs.

Frazier leads the Pirates with 54 hits and is batting .325.

LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 4-6, .220 batting average, 4.05 ERA

Pirates: 4-6, .233 batting average, 5.14 ERA, outscored by 19 runs

INJURIES: Braves: Huascar Ynoa: (hand), Touki Toussaint: (right shoulder), Mike Soroka: (achilles), Max Fried: (hand), Cristian Pache: (hamstring), Alex Jackson: (left hamstring), Travis d'Arnaud: (left thumb).

Pirates: Jose Soriano: (elbow), Chad Kuhl: (right shoulder), Austin Davis: (elbow), Kyle Crick: (undisclosed), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Trevor Cahill: (elbow), Steven Brault: (lat strain), Phillip Evans: (left hamstring), Colin Moran: (left groin), Ke'Bryan Hayes: (wrist).

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

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