NEW YORK METS (7-7, second place/NL East) at ATLANTA BRAVES (4-11, fifth place/NL East)
Friday: RHP Matt Harvey (0-3, 5.71) vs. RHP Bud Norris (1-2, 6.23), 7:35 p.m. ET
Saturday: LHP Steven Matz (1-1, 7.27) vs. RHP Jhoulys Chacin (0-0, 2.38), 7:10 p.m. ET
Sunday: RHP Jacob deGrom (1-0, 1.50) vs. TBA, 1:35 p.m. ET
BRAVES SHORT HOPS
The Braves opened the season with nine straight losses. The skid fell one defeat shy of matching a franchise-record 0-10 start in 1988. After the 0-9 start, Atlanta produced four straight wins before losing the final two games of this week’s series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There is no shortage of ex-Mets on the Braves -- although in Jeff Francoeur and Kelly Johnson’s cases, they actually began their careers with Atlanta as first-round picks, too. Left-hander Eric O’Flaherty was acquired by the Braves from the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash on March 27. In nine relief appearances, O’Flaherty has allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He has surrendered a pair of homers. Johnson re-signed with the Braves during the offseason after getting dealt with Juan Uribe to the Mets last July. Francoeur, who made his major league debut with the Braves at age 21 back in 2005, re-signed with Atlanta on Feb. 22. He has started four of the team’s past nine games, in large part due to left fielder Hector Olivera’s legal troubles. Jace Peterson has shifted over from second base to cover left field for Olivera.
Olivera was arrested last week after an alleged domestic-violence incident. With his original administrative leave due to expire, MLB and the players’ union agreed to a two-week extension that keeps Olivera inactive.
Williams Perez had been in line to face the Mets on Sunday, but instead he was demoted to Triple-A Gwinnett. Prospects Mike Foltynewicz and Aaron Blair reportedly are the candidates to step into rotation for the series finale. The 23-year-old Blair was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in December in the trade that also brought center fielder Ender Inciarte to Turner Field and shipped out Shelby Miller. Blair is 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in the International League this season and would be making his major league debut. His tossed seven no-hit innings for Gwinnett on Tuesday while striking out 10 and walking one before departing with his pitch count at 87. Foltynewicz, 24, went 4-6 with a 5.71 ERA in 18 appearances (15 starts) for the Braves last season. He did not pitch after Aug. 25 due to blood clots in his right shoulder. He underwent surgery to remove part of a rib and arrived in spring training having lost significant weight.
Inciarte landed on the disabled list three games into his Braves career after straining his left hamstring on April 8. He is expected to be sidelined into early May. Lefty-hitting rookie Mallex Smith primarily has manned center field in Inciarte’s absence, with righty-hitting Drew Stubbs starting the other three times.
Mets-killer Freddie Freeman is off to a slow start. He is hitting only .163 (8-for-49) with one homer and four RBIs. The long ball came in his first at-bat on Opening Day. Freeman's career-high streak without a homer is 94 at-bats, spanning the end of 2014 and first several games of 2015. Freeman has walked 10 times this season, giving him a .328 on-base percentage.
Second baseman Gordon Beckham landed on the DL on Monday. The transaction came two days after Beckham suffered a left hamstring strain.
This marks the Braves’ final season at Turner Field. The ballpark opened for baseball in 1997 -- the season following the Atlanta Olympic Games. Georgia State University will take over the facility and convert it to a football stadium. The college had been playing in the cavernous Georgia Dome. The Braves will play in a new stadium in Cobb County, north of Atlanta, beginning in 2017.
METS SHORT HOPS
DeGrom is due to throw a bullpen session on Friday in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He then will rejoin the Mets on Saturday, in advance of his start in Sunday’s series finale. DeGrom’s lone start so far this season came in the home opener on April 8. He missed a rotation turn after that due to a right-lat issue. His newborn son then had a medical issue, which has kept deGrom away from the team since early last week. Logan Verrett, who logged 12 scoreless innings over two starts while filling in for deGrom, should be ready to resume pitching out of the bullpen beginning Saturday. Verrett tossed 91 pitches on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Harvey has lost a career-high four straight decisions dating to last season.
Switching-hitting Neil Walker already has three homers in 11 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season. He had the same number of long balls against southpaws over the previous five seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
