Arizona @ Atlanta preview
Turner Field
Last Meeting ( May 14, 2010 ) Arizona 5, Atlanta 6
The Atlanta Braves are starting to gain some momentum. The Arizona Diamondbacks seem to be stuck in the mud.
The Braves will be looking to get back to .500 with their fifth straight win when they take on the lowly Diamondbacks on Saturday.
Atlanta looked down and out in the series opener on Friday, trailing 4-0 entering the seventh inning. But the Braves battled back with a solo blast from Brian McCann and a three-run shot from Nate McLouth to tie it up.
After Arizona grabbed the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, Atlanta jumped on Chad Qualls to load the bases in front of Martin Prado's walk-off two-run single.
The Braves outscored the Milwaukee Brewers, 28-7, in a three-game sweep earlier in the week and kept up the offensive charge with some help from a few unlikely sources on Friday. Omar Infante went 4-for-4 from the No. 7 spot in the lineup in front of McLouth, who lifted his batting average to .172 with the three-run homer - his third of the season.
Their recent surge has lifted the Braves out of the National League basement and into 14th place with a .239 team batting average that is climbing by the day.
The Diamondbacks should provide more opportunities for improvement, as they rank 15th in the NL with a 5.72 ERA. The bullpen has been the source of much of the trouble, posting a 7.37 mark before Friday's meltdown.
It was the usual suspects inflicting the most damage for Arizona manage A.J. Hinch, as Juan Gutierrez and his 9.20 ERA allowed McLouth's blast and Qualls blew his third save of the season to watch his ERA balloon to 7.62.
The Diamondbacks - a trendy pick to contend in the NL West prior to the season, have now dropped seven in a row.
The Braves will be looking to stifle the Arizona offense on Saturday with the youngster currently marching his way to the top of the staff in Tommy Hanson. The 23-year-old right-hander posted an 11-4 record with a 2.89 ERA in his 2009 rookie campaign and has picked up right where he left off this season, entering Saturday with a stingy 2.30 mark.
Hanson has allowed two earned runs or less in all but one of his seven outings this season and has struck out 46 batters in 43 innings. The phenom is coming off his best outing of the season, when he held the Milwaukee Brewers scoreless while punching out eight in eight innings to earn a win.
The Oklahoma native made one start against Arizona last season, allowing two runs and striking out seven in six innings to emerge with the win.
The Diamondbacks will counter with veteran Rodrigo Lopez. The journeyman right-hander was out of the majors in 2008 before staging a brief comeback with the Philadelphia Phillies last season. But with Arizona so desperate for pitching help, Lopez will be making his eighth start already this season for the struggling staff.
Lopez has been solid if unspectacular for the Diamondbacks, lasting at least six innings in six of his seven starts and holding opponents to two earned runs or less four times. He suffered the loss in his last start, however, surrendering four runs and seven hits in seven frames while issuing five walks.
The Mexico native has never won against the Braves, owning an 0-3 record despite a 3.46 ERA in four career outings, though he has not faced them since 2005 when he was with the Baltimore Orioles.