The set-up: The San Francisco Giants opened their three-game series in Atlanta against the Braves, playing their best baseball of the season. The Giants had won eight of their past 11 contests, moving above .500 at 16-15, for the first time since they were 4-3 back on April 7. Shortstop Brandon Crawford showed signs of life at the plate after an extended slump by snapping a 5-for-47 skid with two hits Wednesday and then collected three hits – including his third HR of the season – and drove in two runs in Friday's 9-4 victory over the Braves, as the Giants won for the ninth time in their last 12. The loss halted an excellent run by the Braves, who had won five in a row after finishing a three-city road trip at 7-3 with a three-game sweep of the Mets at Citi Field on Thursday. The Braves absolutely dominated the Mets in that three-game road sweep, outscoring New York 21-2. Atlanta's 19-12 has them atop the NL East and puts them on pace to win 99 games this year, after averaging 71.5 wins per season the last four!

The pitching matchup: Lefty Ty Blach (2-3, 4.10 ERA) thakes teh mound for the Giants up against the Braves' Brandon McCarthy (4-0, 3.09 ERA). Blach has pitched fairly well since giving up six runs in his second start of the season, posting a 3.54 ERA with 27 hits allowed in his past 28 innings over five starts, although the Giants are just 2-3. He beat the Dodgers on Sunday in his last outing, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts in six innings. Blach beat Atlanta in his only career appearance, giving up two runs on six hits in 7 2/3 innings last season. Atlanta starting pitchers had not allowed more than one run in five consecutive starts, before the Giants torched Mike Foltynewicz for six runs in the second inning last night to take the series opener. McCarthy takes teh mound Saturday and he has provided the Braves even more than they had hoped for (a veteran presence in the rotation). He began the weekend tied for second in the NL in wins, after holding Philadelphia to one run on five hits with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings last Sunday, the third time in his past four starts he has allowed one run. However, he is just 1-3 with a bloated 7.34 ERA in seven career games (five starts) against the Giants.

The pick: The Giants got the best of the National League East-leading in the series opener but let's not sell the Braves short. They rank second in all of MLB in runs scored at 5.68 per game, while ranking first in both team BA (.275) and OPS (.799). What's more, the Atlanta lineup has to be mna]made better by the addition of veteran slugger Jose Bautista. The 37-year-old former two-time American League home run champion doubled in his first at-bat for the Braves on Friday against San Francisco and will be back at third base for the middle game of the series on Saturday. "It makes (our lineup) that much longer," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Bautista's addition. "Don't think people in that other dugout aren't aware of this guy when he's up there? I knew we were when he was playing against us the last few years." Make Atlanta an 8* play.