All indicators point toward another pitching duel on Saturday afternoon when the Atlanta Braves host the Milwaukee Brewers in the second contest of a three-game series between two first-place teams.

The National League East-leading Braves won the series opener 3-2 on Friday to halt a three-game losing streak and end a six-game home losing streak to the NL Central-best Brewers.

Atlanta on Saturday will send ace Chris Sale (8-5, 2.30 ERA) to face Milwaukee's Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.47) in a battle of left-handers.

Sale, the 2024 NL Cy Young winner, is working on extra rest, having not pitched since June 10. He is 3-1 with a 1.99 ERA in four starts this season in which he has had six-plus days of rest.

In his last outing, Sale allowed two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs. He has allowed more than three runs in only one of his 13 starts this season.

Sale has made five career starts against the Brewers, going 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA. He beat Milwaukee last year when he allowed only one run in seven innings with 11 strikeouts.

Harrison brings a seven-game winning streak into his 14th start of the season. He hasn't lost since April 11 against Washington. Harrison most recently worked on Sunday, when he scattered three hits over six scoreless innings in a 4-0 win against Philadelphia.

It was a nice bounce-back from his previous start, which saw him allow eight runs in 2 1/3 inning vs. the Athletics, a game the Brewers rallied to win 15-14 in 12 innings. That was the only start in which Harrison has given up more than two runs. He has not allowed a run in five starts this season.

"I think with him, you're seeing a guy that's another competitive dude," Milwaukee pitching coach Chris Hook said. "But extremely convicted of what he's doing and, you know, when you start compounding some positive things on top of that, things really start rolling. I think that's what you're seeing with Kyle."

Harrison has made only one career start against Atlanta, receiving a no-decision after he allowed three runs over five innings in 2024.

Atlanta beat Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski on Friday, handing the right-hander his first loss since April 19. The Braves were outhit 11-7 and were only 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position but got another clutch effort from Mauricio Dubon. He delivered a two-run single against Misiorowski in the sixth inning to give the Braves a lead they never relinquished.

Dubon is batting .394 (13-for-33) with two outs and runners in scoring position this season and has 23 two-out RBIs .

"He's got that clutch gene, you know," Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. "Some people don't believe in that, but it's a real thing. Doobie can just slow the game down in big moments. Not everyone can do that. You can get caught up in the emotions of the moment and get carried away with it. Doobie just uses all that adrenaline too fine-tune his focus, and he's been doing it all year. It's not by accident."

Dubon was in center field on Friday, replacing Michael Harris II, who is sidelined with lower back soreness for the second time this year. Weiss said the team hopes to avoid placing Harris on the injured list.

--Field Level Media