Smyly expected to start for the Braves against Pirates

Updated Jul. 7, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Atlanta Braves (41-44, fourth in the NL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (32-53, fifth in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Wednesday, 12:35 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Drew Smyly (6-3, 4.42 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 64 strikeouts) Pirates: Wil Crowe (1-5, 6.26 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 46 strikeouts)

LINE: Pirates +140, Braves -161; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh and Atlanta will play on Wednesday.

The Pirates are 19-24 in home games in 2020. Pittsburgh has slugged .354 this season. Bryan Reynolds leads the team with a .523 slugging percentage, including 36 extra-base hits and 15 home runs.

The Braves have gone 17-22 away from home. Atlanta's lineup has 117 home runs this season, Ronald Acuna Jr. leads them with 23 homers.

The Pirates won the last meeting 2-1. Richard Rodriguez recorded his fourth victory and Reynolds went 0-for-2 with two RBIs for Pittsburgh. Tyler Matzek registered his third loss for Atlanta.

TOP PERFORMERS: Reynolds leads the Pirates with 48 RBIs and is batting .302.

Acuna Jr. leads the Braves with 23 home runs and has 51 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 4-6, .215 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

Braves: 5-5, .248 batting average, 3.68 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Jose Soriano: (elbow), Luis Oviedo: (quad), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Trevor Cahill: (calf), Steven Brault: (lat strain), Ka'ai Tom: (back), Gregory Polanco: (hip), Phillip Evans: (concussion), Colin Moran: (wrist), Erik Gonzalez: (side).

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).

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