Mariners-Braves Preview

Coming off a road sweep of their closest pursuer in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves hope to ride that momentum to a better interleague performance than their last.

The Braves look for a fourth consecutive victory Tuesday night when they host the Seattle Mariners, who also will try to win their fourth in a row and first in four interleague contests this season.

Atlanta (31-25) managed six runs in the final three of a four-game home-and-home sweep at the hands of Boston last week, but regrouped to outscore the Marlins 16-9 while taking all three at Miami.

"We played about as good a series as we've played in a while,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said after Evan Gattis' two-run homer in the ninth sent the Braves to a 4-2 victory Sunday.

"I'm really, really proud of our ballclub."

Gattis is 6 for 18 with three homers and six RBIs in his last five games.

Teammate Justin Upton is batting .194 on the road, where he has three homers and seven RBIs in 24 games, but has hit .400 with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs in 29 home contests.

Atlanta is 6-3 versus Seattle (29-28) and won five straight in the series, though the teams haven't met since 2011. The Braves took two of three in their only meeting at Turner Field in 2008.

Longtime White Sox right-hander and scheduled Braves starter Gavin Floyd (0-2, 2.37 ERA) is 4-4 with a 4.73 ERA against the Mariners, but he last faced them in 2012.

Though Floyd is winless in four starts since making his Atlanta debut May 6 after undergoing elbow surgery, he has a 1.98 ERA without a decision in two home starts and allowed three earned runs in 11 2-3 innings of his last two overall. Floyd gave up one earned run, six hits and walked three while throwing 106 pitches in five innings of a 4-0 loss at Boston on Wednesday.

"You just try to keep zeros up and try to keep the team as close as you could,'' he said. ''I want to win. When I'm pitching, I want our team to win. Obviously, I feel fine. I feel good.''

Seattle should feel good about itself after a 10-2 rout at Yankee Stadium in a makeup game Monday for its third straight win. Kyle Seager had three RBIs and became the first major leaguer to hit two triples and at least one homer and one double since Hal Breeden for Montreal in 1973.

Seager is batting .415 (17 for 41) with three homers and 11 RBIs in his last 11 games. He's hit .389 with eight RBIs in his last nine on the road, but is 0 for 7 with three strikeouts versus Floyd.

The Mariners are expected to recall Erasmo Ramirez (1-4, 6.00) to face the Braves for the first time after Brandon Maurer was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Friday. The right-hander has made six starts this season, most recently May 7 when he yielded two runs in six innings of a 2-0 loss at Oakland.

He's not received a run of support while on the mound spanning 12 innings over his last two major league outings.

Seattle's Robinson Cano is optimistic he'll play a second straight game after missing four with a bruised hand.

''Hopefully we come (Tuesday) with no pain,'' said Cano, who is batting .412 during a 12-game road hitting streak.

Three of his six hits in 23 at-bats versus Floyd are home runs.