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Braves-Red Sox Preview

Jun 20, 2009 - 4:46 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Atlanta (31-34) at Boston (40-26), 7:10 p.m. EDT

It has been nearly five years since Derek Lowe played a major role in ending the Boston Red Sox's 86-year championship drought, but Saturday's Fenway Park crowd certainly will not have forgotten.

Now with the Atlanta Braves, Lowe will likely receive a warm ovation when he pitches against the Red Sox for the first time since leaving them after winning the decisive Game 4 of the 2004 World Series.

The Red Sox acquired Lowe and stalwart catcher Jason Varitek in a trade with Seattle in 1997, and the big right-hander had an impressive run in Boston, racking up 70 wins, 85 saves and throwing a no-hitter.

He'll likely be remembered most for his 2004 postseason, when he had a 1.86 ERA and won the final game of all three of Boston's series.

He started on two days' rest in Game 7 of the AL championship series, allowing one hit in six innings against the New York Yankees, then tossed seven shutout frames and allowed three hits in the World Series clincher in St. Louis.

"I'm really looking forward to heading back to Boston to pitch this weekend," Lowe wrote on his blog on the league's official Web site. "When I think of my career pretty much all my memories are in Boston. ... I think any time you win a World Series in any city, that's where your fondest memories are going to be."

Lowe (7-4, 4.08 ERA) had four successful seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is off to a strong start this year, but he'll be trying to rebound from his shortest start since 2004, when he pitched two innings for Boston in a tuneup for the playoffs Oct. 3.

He allowed seven runs in 2 1-3 innings Sunday at Baltimore in an 11-2 loss.

"I stunk," said Lowe, who including playoffs is 44-24 with 39 saves and a 3.07 ERA in 201 games at Fenway.

The pitching matchup will feature another right-hander who helped bring a World Series title to Boston. Josh Beckett went 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in the 2007 postseason.

Beckett (7-3, 4.15) looked like he was regaining that form lately, going 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA in seven starts before his visit to Philadelphia on Sunday. He struggled in that game, allowing seven runs - six earned - in six-plus innings of an 11-6 loss.

The Red Sox ace has held the Braves (32-34) without a run four of the last five times he has faced them, going 4-0 with a 0.58 ERA. Beckett will hope for a similar effort as he tries to help Boston avoid losing a third straight home game for the first time this year.

The Red Sox (40-27) dropped a rain-shortened affair 2-1 to Florida on Thursday before opening this series with an 8-2 loss to fall to 23-10 at Fenway.

Boston's offense has cooled with just three hits in the last two games. Jason Bay had their only two Friday, including a two-run homer, but Dustin Pedroia went 0 for 4 and is 6 for 44 (.136) in his last 10 games.

Atlanta has won back-to-back games on the road after losing its previous four away from home. A dormant lineup has awakened with 15 runs in the last two games, led by two home runs and six RBIs from newcomer Nate McLouth.

"We were swinging early," said McLouth, who homered on the first pitch of Friday's game. "I guess people had the feeling they wanted to be aggressive and we had pretty good results."

Garret Anderson, 3 for 3 with four RBIs on Friday, is 8 for 17 (.471) off Beckett.

The Red Sox and Braves face off five more times in the next nine days, and the same pitching matchup will likely take place Friday at Turner Field.

Atlanta has lost four straight series to Boston since taking two of three July 2-4, 2004, when the Braves scored eight runs off Lowe in the finale.