John Smoltz and Tom Glavine will square off on the mound for the fourth time this season, but talk about milestones and about the past will take a backseat since both Atlanta and the Mets are more worried about where they'll be in October.

The last time good friends and former Atlanta teammates Smoltz and Glavine met, Smoltz picked up his 200th career victory. Now Glavine returns for the first time since winning his 300th game on Aug. 5 in what could be his final appearance before the fans at Turner Field who once adored him.

Smoltz will leave such sentimentality to the fans, who finally gave Glavine a standing ovation when the 41-year-old left-hander was honored before Friday's game. The Atlanta ace is focusing on the task at hand -- trying to help the Braves climb out of a 6 1/2-game hole in the National League East.

"I'm just going to approach it as what it is," Smoltz said of his matchup on Sunday against Glavine in the final game of a three-game series. "We're fortunately in the midst of a pretty good race. The other stuff will take a back seat right now."

This will be the fourth meeting between Smoltz and Glavine this season. Smoltz is 2-0 in the head-to-head matchups and the Braves have won all three previous meetings.

Those victories, however, don't put Atlanta in first place, and the Braves still covet the position of the Mets, who are looking to win the NL East for the second straight season after Atlanta won it 11 times in a row.

The Braves haven't had a winning month since April, and they went just 4-6 on a recent road trip against three teams -- Cincinnati, St. Louis and Florida -- who were all under .500 when the series started.

"We've played our way into this," Smoltz said. "Now, the only thing we can do is play our way out of it."

Glavine won 242 games with the Braves from 1987-2002, but is just 3-11 against his former team since joining the Mets.

With his career possibly entering its final month, Glavine can look back fondly about his time with the Braves, when he reached the postseason 11 times and pitched in rotations featuring fellow future Hall of Famers Smoltz and Greg Maddux.

"That's something that, for me personally, was pretty special," Glavine said. "I think that's a threesome that will go down in the history of baseball as one of the very best."

Pitching matchup
ATL: RHP John Smoltz (12-6, 3.06 ERA)
Smoltz pitched on three days' rest for the first time since June 2006 in his last start. He didn't earn the victory, but he pitched six innings and allowed three runs against the Marlins while taking a no-decision in Florida's win. Since July 2, Smoltz is 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA, and in his career against the Mets, he is 17-13 with 24 saves in 66 appearances.

NYM: LHP Tom Glavine (11-6, 4.15 ERA)
Glavine sits at 301 wins after following win No. 300 with a victory two starts later against the Nationals. Glavine hasn't lost since July 2, going 4-0, with his last two wins coming on the road. In his two starts against the Braves this season, Glavine is 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA.

Player to watch
Atlanta center fielder Andruw Jones has 16 hits in 41 at-bats against Glavine for a .390 average. Half of those hits are for extra bases -- four doubles and four home runs.

Tickets
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On the Internet
 MLB.TV
 Gameday Audio
•  Gameday
•  Official game notes

On television
• TBS

On radio
• 640 AM, 94.9 FM

Up next
• Monday: Braves (Lance Cormier, 1-4, 7.59) vs. Phillies (Jamie Moyer, 12-10, 5.08), 1:05 p.m. ET
• Tuesday: Braves (TBD) vs. Phillies (Kyle Lohse, 7-12, 4.54), 7:35 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Braves (TBD) vs. Phillies (Kyle Kendrick, 8-3, 3.79), 1:05 p.m. ET