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A playoff atmosphere is anticipated Friday when the visiting Cleveland Guardians and the Atlanta Braves begin a three-game series featuring the winningest teams in the major leagues.

The Guardians have 18 victories, tops in the American League. The Braves have 17 wins, the most in the National League.

Cleveland defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-3 on Thursday to take two of three games in the series. The Guardians have won nine of their past 11.

The Braves are fresh from a three-game home sweep of the Miami Marlins, capped by a 4-3, 10-inning thriller on Wednesday. Atlanta has prevailed in nine of its past 10 games.

Atlanta took two of three games at Cleveland last season. The Guardians are set to make their first visit to Atlanta since 2016, when the Braves swept a three-game series.

A pair of left-handers will start the opener, Atlanta’s Chris Sale (2-1, 4.38 ERA) and Cleveland’s Logan Allen (3-0, 5.06).

Sale beat the Texas Rangers on Friday in his latest outing. He pitched seven innings for the second straight outing and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Sale has recorded at least six strikeouts in each of his four starts this year.

“Our bullpen was down and we didn’t have a lot of guys in great shape, so for him to go seven, three runs, that was awesome,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s been really efficient, too. We’re not having to take him out because he’s racked up a whole lot of pitches, either.”

Sale has made 32 career appearances against Cleveland, 21 starts, going 6-8 with a 4.60 ERA. He made one start against the Guardians last season and allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings for a win on April 30.

Allen beat the Oakland A’s on Saturday when he pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks. He fanned four. Allen has had a problem with the home-run ball, allowing six in 26 2/3 innings.

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said after the Saturday game, “He really battled. He had a tough time getting a feel for his spin really all night and had a hard time finding the cutter, which has been a real good pitch for him, but he was making pitches when he needed to.”

Allen will face the Braves for the first time in his career.

The Atlanta offense has thrived behind designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, who is batting .344 and leads the league with nine homers and 29 RBIs. He went 3-for-4 in the series finale against Miami.

Braves center fielder Michael Harris II, who is hitting .330, drove in the winning run in the 10th inning on Wednesday.

Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson, who led the majors in home runs and RBIs last season, is mired in a 1-for-28 slump and hasn’t hit a home run since April 7.

Cleveland’s offense is led by left fielder Steven Kwan, who tops the team with a .346 average, and first baseman Josh Naylor, who is hitting .295 with club-high six homers and 20 RBIs. Jose Ramirez went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs on Thursday, upping his team-leading RBI total to 23.

–Field Level Media