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Braves need to jumpstart their offense Friday against the Pirates

After a disappointing end to their road trip, the Atlanta Braves return to Truist Park where they will begin a nine-game homestand with a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It looked like the Braves were building some momentum. They took two of three against a good Yankees club to start the trip, which gave them eight wins in their last 10 games. However they ended the road stretch by dropping two of three in St. Louis and then a 1-0 defeat Thursday in a make up game against the White Sox. Atlanta is now eight games back of the Phillies in the NL East standings and their lead for the first wild card is down to 3.5 games. The Pirates come into the series with a 39-41 record for the season but took two of three from the Braves in Pittsburgh at the end of May.

Charlie Morton will get the start for the Braves in Friday’s series opener and will be looking to bounce back after a rough outing last time out. Morton is currently in a weird stretch where he has alternated good and bad outings over his last five starts. If that pattern holds, the Friday could be a good performance. He put Atlanta in an early hole last time out allowing five hits, five walks and five runs over 5 ²⁄₃ innings against the Yankees.

He will face off against lefty Martín Pérez who will make his first start since May 26 due to a groin injury that he suffered against the Braves. Perez allowed four hits and a run before leaving the game after three innings. Perez has a 4.71 ERA and a 4.69 FIP through 11 starts this season.

The Braves need to get their offense going again to start the homestand. They scored just four runs combined over their last three losses. Atlanta managed just four hits against a struggling White Sox staff that was essentially a bullpen game Thursday.

Orlando Arcia returned to the lineup Thursday for the first time since leaving the opener in St. Louis due to dizziness. Arcia was 1-for-3 in his return but is hitting just .213/.244/343 with a 61 wRC+ for the season. Adam Duvall started the final two games of the road trip and was 0-for-7 with five strikeouts. Duvall is just 9-for-77 with 28 strikeouts since June 1.

The Braves are back in their normal time slot of 7:20 p.m. ET and Friday’s game can be seen on Bally Sports Southeast.