Philadelphia @ Atlanta preview
Turner Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 21, 2010 ) Philadelphia 2, Atlanta 0
One night after Roy Halladay played the role of ace to perfection, Derek Lowe hopes to do the same for the Atlanta Braves.
Lowe (3-0) looks to join Halladay as the only four-game winner in the majors when the Braves host the Phillies tonight in the finale of a three-game series.
He’ll have a hard time matching the performance of Halladay, who tossed a complete-game shutout against the Braves on Wednesday night and showed why the Phillies mortgaged the farm to acquire him in a trade.
Lowe, though, has put up Halladay-like numbers in his career against Philadelphia.
The 36-year-old sinkerballer has a 6-1 lifetime mark against the Phillies and won all three starts against them a year ago.
Since he became a full-time starter with the Boston Red Sox in 2002, Lowe has averaged 15-plus wins in eight seasons and appears well on his way toward a ninth straight year of at least 12 victories.
Perfect record notwithstanding, Lowe has hardly been spectacular this season. Fortunately for him, the Braves’ offense has taken care of that when he’s on the mound, ringing up 32 runs in his three starts.
That has more than offset an ERA of 4.67 by Lowe, who has more walks (12) than strikeouts (11).
Atlanta hasn’t had much luck getting its offense untracked against Philadelphia’s starting pitching and has been blanked for 17 innings by Kyle Kendrick and Halladay.
If not for the meltdown by Phillies closer Ryan Madson on Tuesday, the Braves would be looking to avoid a sweep today rather than a chance to win the series and take over first place in the National League East.
Resident AARP member-in-waiting Jamie Moyer gets the start for Philadelphia today.
The 47-year-old left-hander has split his first two decisions, giving up five runs and going six innings in each of the two starts.
Moyer has not enjoyed a ton of success in his lengthy career against the Braves, posting just a 4-9 record in 16 appearances, including 14 starts.
He’ll be a looking for some support from an offense that suddenly has lost its oomph after a dazzling start to the season.
Through 10 games, the Phillies had been relentless at the plate, amassing 77 runs. They have since slowed to a crawl, managing just six runs in their last four games.
And there’s a chance they will be without one of their best hitters for today’s game. Third baseman Placido Polanco was hit on the elbow by a pitch Wednesday and eventually came out of the game.
X-rays were negative but Polanco will be re-evaluated today. In his first year with the Phillies, Polanco already has nine multi-hit games and is batting a robust .383.