Youthful Braves open series with skidding Giants

One of baseball's best collections of young 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, 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.