Friday, July 27th (All times eastern)
Atlanta Braves (54-49) at Arizona Diamondbacks (56-48), 9:40 p.m.
Probable Starting Pitchers: Atlanta - Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1, 6.14) Arizona - Yusmeiro Petit (2-2, 2.54)
The Arizona Diamondbacks will try to move one step closer to matching their season high winning streak when they open a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves tonight at Chase Field.
Arizona has ripped off six straight wins to get back in the race in the National League West. That run, coupled with the struggles by Los Angeles and San Diego, has the Diamondbacks in second place in the standings, 1 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.
The D-backs won a season-high eight straight games from May 24-June 1.
Arizona completed a four-game sweep of the Marlins on Thursday, as Eric Byrnes’ two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning lifted the club to a 7-4 victory.
Tony Pena (5-2) threw two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win for rookie starter Micah Owings, who was tagged for six hits and four runs over three innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Owings also hit a two-run homer to help his cause.
Conor Jackson added a two-run shot in the win.
Yusmeiro Petit starts for the Diamondbacks tonight and is coming off his best outing of the season. The young right-hander tossed six shutout innings on Sunday at the Cubs, scattering three hits without a walk and five strikeouts. The victory improved Petit to 2-2 with a 2.54 earned run average this season.
Petit faced the Braves in relief while with Florida last year and threw three scoreless frames.
Jo-Jo Reyes will toe the rubber for the fourth time in his career tonight for Atlanta and is still in search of that treasured first career win. After going 0-1 over his first two starts and allowing nine total runs in that span, Reyes pitched well enough to win on Sunday against the Cardinals, but came away with a no-decision.
The left-hander limited the Cardinals to one runs on three hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings, but it wasn’t enough in his club’s 7-2 loss. The Braves are now 0-3 on the season when Reyes starts.
Atlanta enters Friday’s contest having lost two in a row, including a 4-2 setback on Thursday to San Francisco.
Jeff Francoeur was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer for the Braves, who remained four games behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East. Buddy Carlyle (5-3) surrendered four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings to pick up the loss.
The Diamondbacks dominated the season series last year, winning six of seven over Atlanta. However, the Braves’ lone win came in Arizona.
