Maybe the way Saturday night’s game played out, there will be special momentum for the Baltimore Orioles as they close out the weekend.

They’ll take on the visiting Atlanta Braves again Sunday afternoon following a thrilling 3-2 triumph.

“Any win is a big win, but a tight game like that (especially),” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said, emphasizing the importance.

Baltimore, which swept a three-game series last year in Atlanta, will try to win this year’s series when the teams meet in the rubber game.

The teams have played a pair of one-run games. Atlanta won 7-6 in 10 innings Friday night and Baltimore responded by scoring the winning run in the ninth inning of Saturday night’s escape.

That final run came on Dylan Beavers’ two-out hit which plated Jackson Holliday.

“I think everyone in this clubhouse believes we can be really good,” Beavers said. “We just need to be better more consistently, all around. We’re all kind of in agreement on that. But I think, every day, we’ve got to win the day.”

Few things have come easily for the Braves lately, but despite Saturday’s result, they’ve won seven of their last 10 games.

“You’ve got to play well to beat teams in this league,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “There are some good things happening right now. It’s well documented, the tough June we had. But after the break, we’ve really turned it around and we’re playing well in pretty much all phases.”

The Orioles like what they’re seeing from third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who has played in six games for the team. He has hit three home runs, driven in nine runs and has at least one hit in five of those games.

“It has been really impressive,” Albernaz said. “It has been fun to watch. He hasn’t been missing good pitches to hit, and that’s a testament to him.”

The Braves will have right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (4-3, 3.95 ERA) in a starting role for Sunday’s series finale. He has come out of the bullpen in 13 of his 23 appearances this year, but he has worked into the fifth inning in each of his four starts in July.

Lopez has been roughed up for nine total runs in 9 1/3 innings in his last two outings. All-time against the Orioles, he’s 2-2 with a 2.38 ERA in 10 matchups, including three starts.

The Orioles have right-hander Shane Baz (4-9, 4.05) ready for another start. He has been sharper in his last two outings, allowing a combined three earned runs over 10 2/3 innings, recording 15 strikeouts without issuing a walk. Still, Baz is without a victory since June 12 — and the Orioles have won a game in only one of his last six stints.

Baz will be facing the Braves for the first time in his career.

The Orioles, who will be concluding a three-game homestand, might want to stay away from using reliever Rico Garcia for at least a game. In each of the last two games, he surrendered a game-tying home run in the eighth inning, running his streak of consecutive appearances with a homer allowed to three.

There was concern late in Saturday’s game about Atlanta outfielder Eli White, who fell while making it to second base on what turned out to be a pinch-hit double in the seventh inning. He later left the game.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox have won 16 of their last 18 games and will get two-time All-Star southpaw Ranger Suarez back from the injured list to face the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

Boston, which had a 15-game winning streak broken by the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, will try to win the three-game series against Toronto after being one-hit by All-Star right-hander Dylan Cease on Saturday in a 6-0 Blue Jays win.

Suarez (4-3, 3.15 ERA) has not pitched since he strained his groin July 5, the day he found out he was named to his second All-Star team.

The 30-year-old was scheduled to return last week, but his comeback was delayed because he was ill.

The Red Sox also were without left-hander Connelly Early the past few rotation turns but went 16-3 without Suarez and him.

Early, on the injured list since July 1 with elbow inflammation, was traded to the Washington Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead on Saturday night.

Early is 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 games (all starts) covering 91 2/3 innings this season, while Mead is batting .254 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs in 87 games.

“If you scripted that out before any of this happened and said, ‘This is going to happen — Suarez’s going to go down; Early’s going to go down — you’d be like, ‘That’s going to be the end of that (streak),’ ” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told MLB.com on Saturday before the trade was made. “But we’ve had guys that have stepped up. (Payton) Tolle’s been great all year. Jake Bennett came in and did great.”

Activating Suarez to pitch Sunday will allow rookie lefty Tolle to pitch Monday when the Red Sox open a series in West Sacramento, Calif., against the Athletics.

“When we talked about it (the rotation) … it’s like, first of all, if we can get Ranger the days he needs, but also sliding him behind (Patrick Sandoval) and (Sonny) Gray, not disrupting him,” Tracy said. “You get the other two guys (Tolle and Bennett) a little bit extra break, which is good for them, too.”

Suarez is 57-40 with a 3.35 ERA in 204 games, including 136 starts. He is 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Blue Jays in his career. Suarez has thrown 17 1/3 innings against Toronto and has allowed only one unearned run while striking out 17.

The Blue Jays will counter with Kevin Gausman (4-9, 4.51 ERA). They have lost seven straight games he has started, with the last win coming June 7 against the Orioles.

The right-hander has not recorded a win since beating the Pirates 6-2 on May 22. The 35-year-old is 116-122 with a 3.85 ERA in 382 career games (343 starts) and is 9-11 with a 4.25 ERA in 33 games against the Red Sox, including 28 starts.

The Red Sox are just glad they won’t see Cease for a while.

Andruw Monasterio managed the only hit for the Red Sox on Saturday, a double to lead off the sixth.

The All-Star Game starter, Cease was averaging 93 mph on his fastball early in the game, and struck out Wilyer Abreu with a 99 mph to end the ninth.

“It was a great pitch, no regrets,” Cease said of his pitch to Monasterio. “My body was a little cranky early, but it woke up as the game went on. At the end, you don’t want to let it go. I emptied the tank.”

Cease also acknowledged that Fenway Park is his favorite place to play. He is 2-0 with an 0.88 ERA there and has held hitters to a .194 batting average.

“When I play Nintendo 64, it is always here,” Cease said.

He isn’t the only Blue Jays player who loves Fenway.

George Springer, who hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run third inning Saturday, is a .320 hitter with 41 RBIs and 10 home runs in 50 career games in Boston.

–Field Level Media

Pete Crow-Armstrong is making a strong case for National League MVP as he leads the visiting Chicago Cubs in pursuit of a series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

The All-Star center fielder went 4-for-5 with three runs, two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and a stolen base as the Cubs rolled to an 11-0 victory on Saturday.

According to ESPN, he’s the first Cubs player to record at least 200 RBIs and 90 stolen bases before turning 25 since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Crow-Armstrong, 24, has been on a tear because he has become selective at the plate.

“He’s got a lot of confidence right now,” Counsell said. “(He) can be on go and say no… I think there were points last year where he was on go and it didn’t matter where the pitch was. That’s the difference and that makes (him) the right kind of aggressive.”

Jameson Taillon (2-5, 5.38 ERA) is scheduled to start for Chicago. In his last outing, he received a no-decision after allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-6, 10-inning home loss to the Detroit Tigers.

It was his first appearance since suffering a left hamstring strain on June 7 that landed him on the 15-day injured list. The same problems that plagued Taillon all season resurfaced.

The right-hander gave up back-to-back home runs and left Chicago in a 4-0, first-inning hole. Even after missing time on the IL, he is tied for fourth in the majors with 22 home runs allowed.

Taillon has nine career starts against Pittsburgh and is 4-2 with a 4.58 ERA. In 53 innings, he has struck out 43 and walked 13.

“I’ll keep working behind the scenes to try and figure out the homer thing,” Taillon said. “It feels like that is the snakebite for me. It’s not like I am giving up a ton of hits in a row. It’s the untimely homer.”

The Pirates, meanwhile, are looking for a stronger effort from scheduled starter Braxton Ashcraft (9-4, 3.95 ERA), who struggled in his most recent appearance.

The right-hander allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits while walking one and striking out two in an 8-5 loss at the New York Yankees.

Despite going 4-1 with a no-decision over his last six starts, Ashcraft believes he can pitch better.

He has fared well against the Cubs, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.42 ERA, 24 strikeouts and four walks over 22 1/3 innings in five career starts.

He earned a home victory over Chicago on May 26, allowing one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out five in 6 1/3 innings of a 12-1 Pirates victory.

“It goes back to execution,” Ashcraft said. “Being able to execute with two strikes. Being able to execute with runners in scoring position. That’s how you limit runs, and I’ve done a bad job of that probably the last five starts.”

Pirates manager Don Kelly said his club can avoid a sweep and snap a three-game losing streak.

“We need to find a way,” Kelly said. “We’ve shown the ability this year to bounce back and be resilient.”

–Field Level Media