Atlanta hosts New York in second game of four-game series

The host team will send a left-handed starter to the mound on Saturday night in the second game of a four-game series against the visiting team. The home side won the opener 5-3 on Friday, handing the visitors their 11th loss in 13 games. The result left the visitors 16 games behind the home team in their division and evened the season series at 2-2.

Pitching matchup The home team's starter holds an 8-6 record with a 2.10 ERA.

He last pitched on June 28, allowing two runs over six innings while striking out 10. The visitor's starter is 1-3 with a 4.71 ERA in five starts since moving into the rotation. The home team has given its starter extra rest between outings. In his career, he is 27-16 with a 2.61 ERA in 64 starts that came with at least six days of rest.

"These longer layoffs, they're not injury related, so I'm able to get a lot of throwing done in between these days," the home starter said. "So I've been able to get on the mound two, three, even four times in between starts. " The visitor's starter allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in his most recent outing.

He is 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA in four career appearances against the home team.

Offensive notes The home offense hit four home runs in Friday's game, including two by one player who ended a 16-game homerless streak. The home team has scored five runs in each of its last three games. "You want to be multi-dimensional, but we love homers and we're capable of doing that," the home manager said.

" A visitor player extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single on Friday.