First pitch: Sunday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: TBD

The top club in the league, the Oakland Athletics, finish off a series in Turner Field against the sputtering Atlanta Braves on Sunday night.

Oakland has been the best team in baseball for much of the year and owns a two-game lead over the Angels in the AL West coming into this series. The A's have slowed down somewhat since the All-Star break (14-12) and ran into a hot Royals team in their most recent series. The Athletics were unable to do much in Kansas City as they lost 3-of-4 contests while scoring a total of five runs over the three defeats. The series finale on Thursday resulted in a 7-3 loss, and despite 11 hits, the club was just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. All-Star 3B Josh Donaldson (.253 BA) was 0-for-4 in Thursday’s loss, but had a hit in each of his previous 10 games where he went 14-for-35 (.400) with four doubles, two homers and 6 RBI. The Braves had a promising start to the year, but continue to watch their playoff chances dwindle with losses in 12 of their past 15 games. Going into Friday, they sit six games out of the NL East lead and three games back of a Wild Card spot. Most of Atlanta's problems spur from having the third-worst offense in the league (448 runs) and its 2.8 runs per contest in the most recent series against the Dodgers led to three defeats in four games. The Braves were unable to earn a series split on Thursday when they suffered a 6-4 loss where even their 11 hits could not overcome the poor start by Aaron Harang (4.1 IP, 5 ER). The one consistent hitter on the team has been 1B Freddie Freeman (.294) who has gone 15-for-29 (.517) with five doubles, five runs and four RBI over his past eight games. Getting the start for the Athletics on Sunday night will be LHP Jon Lester (13-7, 2.51 ERA) as he goes up against LHP Mike Minor (4-8, 5.33 ERA) for the host Braves. Oakland has had no trouble playing on the road with a 33-27 record (.550) while Atlanta is a solid 34-28 (.516) at Turner Field heading into this series. These two clubs do not meet often and have not matched up over the past three seasons.

Jon Lester was a huge pickup for the Athletics as they head towards the playoffs. Since joining the team, he is a perfect 3-0 over three starts with a 2.49 ERA and 1.06 WHIP spanning 21.2 innings. Overall on the year, his 2.51 ERA is fifth-best in the AL while he ranks second in wins (13) and sixth in strikeouts (169). Much of his success has come from his 9.2 K/9, his best mark since 2010, but he has also had his best control of his career (2.0 BB/9) and is keeping the ball in the park by giving up only nine home runs in 164.2 frames (0.49 HR/9). Lester posted a quality start in his last outing, going six innings while allowing three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. He has faced Atlanta just three times in his career, going 2-1 with a strong 3.32 ERA, but a poor 1.58 WHIP, and has walked a surprisingly high seven batters in 19 innings of work. OF B.J. Upton has the most experience against Lester with his time in the AL East, but is a woeful 12-for-58 (.207) with 13 strikeouts in the matchup. Meanwhile, OF Jason Heyward (4-for-6, 2 doubles, 1 HR) has had success against the lefty in limited at-bats. Coming into this series, Oakland’s bullpen has gone 21-15 with a 2.91 ERA and is 26-for-38 (68%) in save opportunities. Sean Doolittle (2.39 ERA, 18 saves) has been amazing as the closer, and owns an unprecedented 74:4 K/BB ratio while going 18-for-21 (86%) in his own saves chances.

Mike Minor has been pitching better than his numbers would suggest, as he has struck out a solid 8.1 batters per nine innings while harnessing his control (2.6 BB/9). Most of his issues so far have stemmed from allowing far too many home runs (1.55 HR/9) and dealing with some bad luck (.358 BABIP). Minor's past five starts have not gone very well as he has allowed five or more runs in three of those outings while giving up 46 hits in 27.1 frames. Minor has never faced the Athletics in his four-year career and will have his work cut out for him as they own the best offense in the league (589 runs) led by 3B Josh Donaldson (.256 BA) who has 27 home runs (9th in majors) and 84 RBI (4th in MLB). On the other side of the diamond, 1B Brandon Moss (.256 BA) has also been putting up big numbers (23 HR, 76 RBI). Coming into Friday, the relievers for Atlanta have gone 17-19 with a 3.25 ERA while converting a tremendous 42-of-51 (82%) saves. Craig Kimbrel (1.88 ERA, 35 saves) has struck out 15.0 batters per nine innings on the year while allowing a single home run in 48 innings on the mound (0.19 HR/9).