(Photo credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)

The team with the best record in the major leagues will match up with the two-time defending champions this weekend as the Atlanta Braves and host Los Angeles Dodgers each have something to prove.

The Braves arrive from Seattle after their first series loss of the season in 12 tries, while the Dodgers return home following a lackluster 3-3 road trip to St. Louis and Houston.

Friday's series opener will match Braves left-hander Chris Sale (6-1, 2.14 ERA) against Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan (2-1, 5.23).

Sale has allowed one run or fewer in six of his seven starts this season, including Saturday at Colorado when he allowed one run on three hits over seven innings and finished with a season-high 11 strikeouts.

Over his last four starts, Sale is 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA and has 33 strikeouts with seven walks over 26 innings pitched.

'He's a freak,' Braves manager Walt Weiss said of the nine-time All-Star and 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner. 'He's a Hall of Famer, and those guys are just different. That's what he's been doing pretty much his whole major league career.'

Sale is 1-2 with a 6.65 ERA in five appearances (four starts) lifetime against the Dodgers. He has two career starts against them at Los Angeles and is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

On offense, the Braves lead the National League with 55 home runs, 13 of which have been supplied by Matt Olson, who entered Thursday's MLB play second in the NL with a 1.059 OPS.

The Dodgers were tied for second in the NL with 50 home runs heading into Thursday's play, although run production has been something of a struggle at times.

The Dodgers are 7-8 since April 21 and averaged 1.6 runs in those eight defeats. The run-scoring potential does remain high, though, and they showed it Wednesday when Andy Pages hit three home runs in a 12-2 victory at Houston.

Thursday was a well-timed off day for Los Angeles, after its bullpen had to absorb eight innings when right-hander Tyler Glasnow departed after the opening frame because of lower back tightness.

Sheehan enters after matching a season high with four runs allowed in a loss to the Cardinals last Friday. He allowed eight hits over 4 2/3 innings with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Sheehan had been one of a trio of Dodgers starters in danger of losing his rotation spot with the impending return of left-hander Blake Snell from the injured list. Glasnow's situation, though, could buy the threesome a little more time.

Sheehan has shown reduced fastball velocity this season, including a season-low average of 93.4 mph during his start at St. Louis.

'There's nothing I can point to and say, 'Hey, this is the reason,'' Sheehan said. 'We're working really hard on it, and we're going to continue working really hard on it. That's all we can do.'

Sheehan has one career start against the Braves, allowing one run on three hits over four innings of a 2023 no-decision.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was replaced by Olson in the Braves lineup in 2022, has just three home runs with 19 RBIs this season. He did emerge from some late-April struggles by batting .375 on the just-concluded road trip, with three doubles.

The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani ended an 0-for-18 slide Wednesday with an RBI single to go along with a double, walk and two runs scored.

--Field Level Media