Boston Red Sox (18-26, fifth in the AL East) vs. Atlanta Braves (31-14, first in the NL East)

Atlanta; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Payton Tolle (1-2, 2.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 27 strikeouts); Braves: Bryce Elder (4-1, 1.81 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 53 strikeouts)

LINE: Braves -142, Red Sox +119; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves bring a 1-0 advantage into the next game of the series against the Boston Red Sox.

Atlanta is 15-7 in home games and 31-14 overall. Braves hitters are batting a collective .268, the best team batting average in the NL.

Boston is 18-26 overall and 10-12 in road games. The Red Sox have a 5-2 record in games when they hit two or more home runs.

Saturday's game is the second time these teams meet this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Harris II leads the Braves with a .308 batting average, and has five doubles, eight home runs, six walks and 24 RBIs. Austin Riley is 10 for 37 with two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games.

Willson Contreras has five doubles, eight home runs and 23 RBIs while hitting .245 for the Red Sox. Ceddanne Rafaela is 13 for 35 with a double and three home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 6-4, .240 batting average, 2.25 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

Red Sox: 5-5, .234 batting average, 2.40 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

INJURIES: Braves: Sean Murphy: 10-Day IL (finger), Eli White: 7-Day IL (concussion), Dylan Dodd: 15-Day IL (back), Ronald Acuna Jr.: 10-Day IL (hamstring), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (elbow), Danny Young: 60-Day IL (elbow), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee), Joey Wentz: 60-Day IL (knee), Hurston Waldrep: 15-Day IL (elbow)

Red Sox: Connor Wong: day-to-day (ankle), Roman Anthony: 10-Day IL (wrist), Danny Coulombe: 15-Day IL (cervical spasms), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow), Garrett Crochet: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kutter Crawford: 15-Day IL (wrist), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Romy Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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