Watch: Setting up Braves-Cardinals series and asking, again, can they hit?

The Braves open a three-game series against the Cardinals with games Friday (7:20 p.m.), Saturday (7:20 p.m.) and Sunday (1:35 p.m.) at Truist Park

The Cardinals enter at 50-46, second in the National League Central, 4.5 games behind the Brewers. The Cardinals are 5-5 in their past 10 games. They entered the All-Star break by splitting a four-game series against the Cubs, including a double-header sweep on Saturday.

The Braves enter 53-42, second in the National League East, 8.5 games behind the Phillies. The Braves entered the All-Star break by doing 4-3 on a seven-game road trip at the Diamondbacks and Padres.

The pitching matchups will be Spencer Schwellenbach (3-4, 4.43) vs. Sonny Gray (9-6, 3.34) on Friday, Charlie Morton (5-5, 4.07) vs. TBD on Saturday and Max Fried (7-5, 3.08) vs. TBD on Sunday.

AJC reporter Gabriel Burns breaks down the series.