Atlanta @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 21, 2015 ) Atlanta 0, St. Louis 1

Jason Heyward is playing some of his best baseball of the season, and just in time for the St. Louis Cardinals’ right fielder to face his former team this weekend. The Cardinals open a three-game home series Friday against the Atlanta Braves, for whom Heyward slugged 84 homers in five seasons before Atlanta shipped him to St. Louis last offseason.

Heyward is hitting .417 in his past seven games with six runs scored for St. Louis, which owns baseball’s best record at 61-34. Rookie Stephen Piscotty was scratched from Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Kansas City with a stiff neck. The Braves have split their first six games of a difficult 12-game stretch to start the second half, taking two of three from the Dodgers this week. Atlanta, which leads the majors with 29 victories by starters aged 24 or younger, sends 24-year-old Manny Banuelos against St. Louis’ Tim Cooney in a matchup of rookie left-handers in the opener.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN South (Atlanta), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Manny Banuelos (1-1, 1.08 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Tim Cooney (0-0, 3.33)

Banuelos has yet to surrender more than one earned run in four major-league appearances (three starts), showing why the Braves traded two relievers to the Yankees to acquire him last offseason. He suffered his first loss Saturday against the Cubs despite allowing only two runs (one earned) in 4 2/3 innings. Banuelos has been hurt by the middle of opposing lineups, allowing a .346 average.

Cooney has given the Cardinals a boost while filling in during Jaime Garcia’s groin injury, posting a 2.45 ERA in four July starts with 21 strikeouts in 22 innings. He recorded a career-high seven in 5 2/3 innings Sunday against the Mets and has allowed two earned runs or less in three of his four starts this month. Left-handers are hitting .313 against Cooney, whom the Cardinals selected in the third round of the 2012 draft.

WALK-OFFS

1. Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman, sidelined since June 18 with a sprained right wrist, is rehabbing at the team’s spring-training facility and the Braves hope he will be ready to play late next week.

2. St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong snapped an 0-for-11 skid with two hits Thursday, while SS Jhonny Peralta saw his eight-game hitting streak snapped.

3. Garcia pitched five no-hit innings with six strikeouts for Single-A Peoria on Thursday; the Cardinals hope he can rejoin the rotation Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 5, Braves 3