Amid power surges, Mauricio Dubon and Braves head into rematch vs. Pirates

Atlanta's Mauricio Dubon will try to boost his home run streak to four games on Saturday afternoon when the Braves host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second game of a three-game series.

Dubon had a double and three RBIs in addition to his home run on Friday in Atlanta's 6-3 win over the Pirates in the series opener. The veteran is 5-for-11 with seven RBIs over the past three games to go with three home runs.

"When things are going right, you guess right every time," Dubon said. "It's one thing to do it as an individual, but when everything is clicking, it's really contagious. The vibe in the clubhouse, everybody gets along and is pulling for each other."

With Dubon's home run, Atlanta has homered in eight straight games -- 17 home runs in all. Pittsburgh failed to hit one out on Friday and saw its home-run streak end at 11 games.

The pitching matchup will feature a pair of right-handers -- Atlanta's Spencer Strider (3-1, 3.77 ERA) against Pittsburgh's Braxton Ashcraft (5-2, 2.77).

Ashcraft has established himself as a potential All-Star in his second season. He has pitched at least six innings in nine of his 12 starts, including the past six. In his most recent outing Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, he threw six innings and allowed two runs on five hits, striking out a season-high 11 in a 9-3 victory.

He became the 12th member of the Pirates to record 11 strikeouts and no walks in a game since 1901.

"It's amazing," teammate Ryan O'Hearn said. "His pace, the tempo that he pitches with, keeps guys locked in. You don't feel like you're standing around too much. He's been elite this year. You see the stuff. He's really good. Need him to keep doing what he's doing."

Ashcraft's control has been sharp. In 74 2/3 innings this season, he has struck out 81 batters and only walked 17 -- a ratio of 4.8-to-1.

"My M.O. is just staying in the zone," Ashcraft said. "Suffocating the zone with strikes. I understand what's going on with hitters, and it allows me to kind of turn my brain off and focus on the task at hand, that's throwing strikes and getting guys out of the zone."

Ashcraft has never faced the Braves.

Strider is coming off his first loss of the season on Sunday at Cincinnati. He pitched five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) with eight strikeouts. Strider bemoaned his inability to execute pitches, especially against left-handers, in the 6-4 loss.

"I think command is everything, executing pitches is everything," he said. "The more you throw the ball in the areas that you want to throw each specific pitch, the better chance you have of avoiding hits and avoiding bad outcomes. You still give up hits when that happens sometimes, but those are the ones you don't feel bad about.

"That's going to happen. Every pitcher is going to make mistakes every outing. The idea is that you make enough good pitches that it kind of cancels those out."

Strider has made three career starts against the Pirates, going 1-2 with a 5.65 ERA. He faced them once last year, taking a 3-1 loss after giving up three runs in six innings on Sept. 27.

Atlanta center fielder Michael Harris II left Friday's game with back tightness in the ninth inning. Manager Walt Weiss said Harris is expected to be available on Saturday.

--Field Level Media