Atlanta @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 6, 2010 ) Atlanta 1, Pittsburgh 3
The Atlanta Braves will turn to their ace to stop the bleeding.
Tim Hudson will take the mound on Tuesday for the Braves in the second contest of a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Atlanta continued its recent slide by dropping a 3-1 Labor Day decision to the Pirates, who won for just the 10th time in their last 37 games. Meanwhile, Atlanta has dropped four of five.
Brian Burres pitched six strong innings on Monday in his first start in over three months and outstanding rookie Neil Walker extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning. Atlanta stranded six runners over the final three innings and couldn’t push across any runs.
The Braves’ lead in the NL East is now just one-half game over the Philadelphia Phillies, who split a day-night doubleheader with the Florida Marlins. Atlanta led by seven games on July 22.
Hudson (15-6, 2.30 ERA) will try to control Walker and his mates and get the Braves back on the right track. The Cy Young Award candidate is second in the National League in ERA and fourth in wins.
In his last outing, Hudson dropped a 4-2 decision to Johan Santana and the New York Mets on Thursday, snapping his personal six-game winning streak in which he posted a 1.43 ERA. The right-hander was reached for four runs – three earned – and eight hits in seven innings.
Hudson and the Braves cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Pirates on May 21. The hurler yielded just three hits over eight frames with four walks and three strikeouts. He is 5-3 with a 2.45 ERA in nine career starts against the Bucs.
Pittsburgh right-hander James McDonald (2-5, 5.62 ERA), who will be making his seventh start of the season, will try to keep Atlanta reeling.
After being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline, McDonald struck out six of the first seven batters he faced and yielded no runs in six innings in his Pittsburgh debut, a 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 5.
McDonald has lost his last three starts, including a 5-3 defeat to the Chicago Cubs last Wednesday. The 25-year-old surrendered three runs and eight hits in five frames with two walks and six strikeouts.