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Aug 27, 2015 - 6:00 PM The New York Yankees hope Brian McCann's return to Atlanta can help ignite a slumping offense.

The Georgia native spent his first nine years with the Braves before signing as a free agent with the Yankees after the 2013 season, and his first matchup with his former team comes Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.

"I'm just excited. I was hoping to be able to go back there and play and (am) lucky enough that the schedule matched up and we're able to go back," McCann told MLB's official website. "When the schedule came out and I saw it, I was really excited for that. I wanted to go back and play before they knocked down Turner Field."

McCann's 91 home runs and 317 RBIs at the stadium, which will be demolished after next season, are third-most all-time behind Andruw and Chipper Jones.

His power numbers have carried over to New York, homering 23 times last year and 22 this season with 75 RBIs in each, but McCann and the Yankees offense have been struggling. He's hitless in five of his last seven games, and New York (69-57) has failed to score more than three runs in six of seven.

The Yankees just completed a 5-5 homestand that started with a three-game sweep of Minnesota but ended with two straight losses to Houston. New York had lost three of four to Cleveland before getting outscored 21-4 by the Astros in the three-game series, hitting .165 while going 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position.

"We didn't swing the bats extremely well against Cleveland or Houston," manager Joe Girardi said after Wednesday's 6-2 loss. "That's kind of been the root of our problems. Our guys are grinding it out and trying to get through it. We're just not having a whole lot of success right now and the only thing you can do is keep working at it."

As a result, the Yankees have dropped out of first place in the AL East. They are 12-15 since July 28, giving up a seven-game lead to red-hot Toronto.

New York's lineup could be depleted this weekend. Mark Teixeira has started once in the past nine games because of a bruised leg, Jacoby Ellsbury sat out Wednesday with a hip injury and both are uncertain for Friday.

Also, the lack of a designated hitter in the NL park will likely keep Alex Rodriguez limited to pinch-hitting duties, though he's batting .109 in his last 17 games.

Masahiro Tanaka (9-6, 3.61 ERA) is pitching on the road for the first time since firing a five-hitter in a 4-1 win at Toronto on Aug. 15 for his first complete game of the year. He wasn't nearly as good against Cleveland last Friday, allowing four runs - three earned - and seven hits in six innings of a 7-3 defeat.

The right-hander is 4-2 with a 1.66 ERA in interleague play but has never faced Atlanta.

Nick Markakis is familiar with Tanaka from his time in Baltimore but has gone 1 for 7 against him. Markakis enters this matchup on a tear, batting .412 during an eight-game hitting streak.

The Braves (54-73), though, have averaged 2.8 runs while losing 13 of 16. They opened a nine-game homestand this week by dropping two of three to Colorado, including a 6-3 defeat Wednesday.

Williams Perez will try to turn it around for both Atlanta and himself.

Perez (4-4, 4.76) is 0-4 with a 7.98 ERA in five starts since coming off the disabled list July 31 after recovering from a foot injury that kept him sidelined for about a month. The Chicago Cubs knocked around the right-hander around for six runs and eight hits over 4 2-3 innings Saturday, but he did not factor into the decision. Perez hasn't earned a victory since June 20 and will take on the Yankees for the first time.

The Braves and Yankees last met in 2012, with New York winning four of six games. The Yankees have won five straight in Atlanta and are 11-2 all-time at Turner Field, including the 1999 World Series.