San Diego @ Atlanta preview
Turner Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 15, 2010 ) Atlanta 6, San Diego 2
When they met in mid-April, the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres were teams with modest expectations. Now they're battling for the best record in the National League.
The top two teams in the Senior Circuit open a three-game series on Tuesday when the Padres visit Turner Field.
Atlanta defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-6, on Sunday to salvage a four-game split and maintain its major-league best 32-12 home record and its comfortable grip on the NL East lead.
The Braves are still a half-game behind San Diego for the National League's best record. They'll try to change that on Tuesday when they get their first look at Padres starter Wade LeBlanc (4-7, 3.30 ERA), who finds himself in a long stretch of tough luck.
LeBlanc has lost his last three decisions and hasn't won since June 12 against the Seattle Mariners, in large part because the Padres haven't been scoring many runs for him. San Diego has scored a total of 14 runs in LeBlanc's last five starts, and the 25-year-old left-hander has been deprived of wins in three quality starts during that stretch.
Scoring hasn't been a problem for the Padres lately. San Diego closed its surprising first half with a 9-7 win at the Colorado Rockies, then racked up 26 runs in a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend.
The Padres might have a tough time continuing that trend against Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (2-3, 4.75 ERA), who looks to continue his strong performance since coming off the disabled list.
The Padres pounded Jurrjens for eight runs over 3 1/3 innings in a 17-2 win April 12 in San Diego, but that was when Jurrjens was battling a hamstring injury that eventually landed him on the disabled list for two months.
Since returning to the rotation June 30, Jurrjens has been a different pitcher. He is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA in three starts since returning, including Thursday's win against Milwaukee in which he limited the Brewers to one run on six hits over 6 2/3 innings.
Jurrjens has been terrific in four starts at Turner Field this year, going 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA.
The Braves will be without manager Bobby Cox for Tuesday's game - and left-hander Jonny Venters might be unavailable as well. Both were suspended Monday in connection with the hurler throwing consecutive pitches at Milwaukee slugger Prince Fielder on Saturday.
Cox is set to serve his one-game suspension on Tuesday, and Venters will begin his four-game penalty as well unless the players' association appeals.