SAN FRANCISCO — hitters goes head-to-head with one of the National League’s best young starting pitchers when the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants begin a three-game series Monday night.The Braves flew into San Francisco on Sunday night on a high Bryan Holaday Jersey , having rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Arizona 9-5 and take three of four in a battle of playoff hopefuls.The win allowed Atlanta (79-64) to move 4 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia (74-68) in the National League East. Those two still have seven head-to-head meetings remaining.Article continues below ...While the Braves continue a seven-game trip with three in San Francisco, the Phillies will be hosting the Washington Nationals for three games.Thanks in large part to 20-year-olds Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies, the Braves will take the field Monday as the second-ranked team in the NL in scoring and batting average.They will be up against Giants 26-year-old Dereck Rodriguez (6-2, 2.41), who ranks fifth in the NL among all pitchers with 15 or more starts in ERA (2.41) and tied for sixth in winning percentage (6-2, .750).Like the Giants, who have lost eight in a row, Rodriguez has had a tough time getting wins of late. He has one loss and two no-decisions to show for his last three starts http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey , during which he has given up just six runs and 14 hits in 17 innings against Texas, Arizona and Colorado.San Francisco’s losing streak is its longest since another eight-game skid in April 2015.Things were different in early May, when the Giants won three straight games at Atlanta. Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria and Alen Hanson contributed home runs to the 9-4, 11-2 and 4-3 victories.Rodriguez, a rookie, did not pitch in the series and has never faced the Braves.Left-hander Sean Newcomb (11-8, 3.92) is scheduled to oppose Rodriguez in the series opener. He also did not pitch in the games in Atlanta.The 25-year-old has struggled of late Justin Bour Jersey , getting roughed up for 35 hits and 21 runs in 23 2/3 innings in his last five starts. He’s 1-3 in those games and the Braves are 2-3.Newcomb has faced the Giants just once in his career, posting a no-decision in a 5-3 win last June in which he limited the Giants to one run and three hits for six innings.He will be seeing a Giants team this time around that suffered the unfortunate distinction of getting swept in Milwaukee despite out-hitting the Brewers in all three games. That hadn’t happened to the Giants since a 2009 series against San Diego.The Braves, meanwhile, have gone 4-0-2 in their last six road series.They managed to avoid splitting four at Arizona by virtue of their six-run ninth, which featured a go-ahead home run by Ender Inciarte and lead-padding homers by Lucas Duda and Johan Camargo.The home run by the 24-year-old Camargo was his 18th of the season, and Acuna earlier hit his 25th.The homers were the 78th and 79th of the season by Braves players 25-and-under. The Giants have 16. A pair of aces enduring disappointing seasons will match up on Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City.The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals will finish off a two-game series. Kansas City won the opener 6-2 on Tuesday night behind Jakob Junis‘ first complete-game victory of his career.Detroit’s starter in the Wednesday matinee, Michael Fulmer, made his first start since the All-Star break on Friday after recovering from an oblique strain. He held the Chicago White Sox scoreless for 4 2/3 innings while throwing 77 pitches.Article continues below ...Prior to the injury http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey , Fulmer (3-9, 4.32 ERA) went through a series of maddening starts in which he often had one bad inning while his teammates failed to provide run support. The 2016 American League Rookie of the Year hasn’t collected a victory since June 14. In his last eight starts, the Tigers have scored an average of 2.1 runs.His return outing gave him hope for better results the rest of the season.“It was a step in the right direction,” Fulmer told the Detroit News. “The mechanical adjustments I’ve made paid off.”Fulmer’s pitch count is expected to be in the 85-90 range on Wednesday. Manager Ron Gardenhire rearranged his rotation so that Fulmer can pitch every fifth day. Detroit had a day off on Monday, so Gardenhire pushed back Francisco Liriano’s next start to accommodate Fulmer.Fulmer wanted to finish out the fifth inning on Friday but understood Gardenhire’s cautious approach.“It felt good to be back,” said Fulmer, who is 2-4 with a 3.23 ERA in eight career starts against Kansas City. “Glad it was a quicker rehab than everyone expected, including myself. Just glad to be up here pitching and I hope to get this team a win next time.”Danny Duffy’s last start also came after an injury Nick Wittgren Jersey , although not quite as serious as the strain that sidelined for Fulmer for more than a month. The Royals lefty made his first start since Aug. 11 on Thursday, allowing two runs on six hits in five innings while taking a no-decision against Tampa Bay.Duffy (7-11, 4.85 ERA) made a quick return from the disabled list after dealing with shoulder tendinitis. Duffy’s fastball velocity returned to the usual 93-95 MPH range after dipping toward 90 in his previous outing.“I didn’t really have any expectations,” he told the Kansas City Star afterward. “I just wanted to go out there with plenty in the tank and be efficient. I could have been more efficient. But I did make some pitches when I needed to.”Duffy has been rocked by the Tigers in two starts this season. Detroit has piled up 13 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings in those games. He’s 7-10 with a 4.63 ERA in 24 career outings against the Tigers.However, Detroit is mired in a four-game losing streak with the other losses coming against the downtrodden Chicago White Sox.“We haven’t played well on the road,” Gardenhire said. “I don’t know why. Nothing really good has happened on the road and we’ve got to figure that out.”