Series Preview: Atlanta Braves vs. San Diego Padres

Welcome to the Show, David Hale.

The 25-year-old righty will make his MLB debut for the Braves in the opening game of a three-game series with the visiting San Diego Padres, whose 25 road wins are the second-fewest in the Majors.

The Braves make a brief pit stop at home before heading back out on the road again, by which time they (hopefully) should have the division clinched; their magic number currently stands at six with 16 games remaining.

San Diego has lost two in a row after winning six of seven and appears to be on its way to a third straight losing season, entering this series at 66-79. Will Venable has been one of the few bright spots for the Padres. Venable leads the offense with 22 home runs and 52 RBI and just signed a two-year extension earlier this month. He's also a .296 career hitter in 26 games against Atlanta, but he's hitting just .125 in eight games at Turner Field.

Everth Cabrera leads the team in steals, but since he was named in the Biogenesis report, he is currently serving his suspension. As insurance for Cabrera, San Diego signed Ronny Cedeno, who's hitting .310 in 27 games with the Padres. Cedeno has actually been San Diego's hottest hitter lately, batting .379 in September. Venable, meanwhile, has hit just .206 this month. Chase Headley is hitting .292 since missing six games with a back ailment.

Ian Kennedy has seen modest success with his new team: he's allowed no more than two runs in five of his seven starts with the Padres. Kennedy has seen the Braves twice this year and has allowed seven runs and nine hits in 9.1 innings. He is the only familiar face the Braves will see among the starters in this series; they'll be getting their first looks at lefty Robbie Erlin and righty Burch Smith who both made their MLB debuts this year. Neither has been spectacular, but both have been given looks due to season-ending injuries to Clayton Richard and Jason Marquis along with the trading away of Edinson Volquez.

The Braves didn't see closer Huston Street in San Diego due to injury, and he was performing very poorly at the time. Since June 26, however, Street has allowed just one run in 23.1 innings with 22 strikeouts.

Friday, September 13, 7:30 p.m. ET - FOX SportsSouth