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Dodgers-Braves Preview

Aug 1, 2009 - 4:19 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (63-39) at Atlanta (52-50), 4:10 p.m. EDT

The Los Angeles Dodgers are getting by just fine without Derek Lowe. The Atlanta Braves, meanwhile, were in desperate need of a player such as Adam LaRoche.

Lowe faces his former teammates for the first time since signing with Atlanta this past offseason, and the Braves hope LaRoche can give their power-starved lineup a boost in his return to the team as they play the middle game of a three-game home set with the Dodgers on Saturday.

Though it lost Lowe (10-7, 4.20 ERA) to Atlanta (52-51) via free agency, Los Angeles (64-39) is second in the major leagues with a 3.59 ERA. Jason Schmidt and three other pitchers combined for a three-hitter as the Dodgers won this series' opener 5-0 on Friday night.

Lowe signed a $60 million, four-year contract with the Braves after going 54-48 with a 3.59 ERA in 137 appearances - 135 starts - over four years with the Dodgers.

The veteran right-hander has settled down after a shaky stretch with Atlanta, going 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his last four outings. He allowed two runs and nine hits in six innings as Atlanta beat Milwaukee 10-2 on Sunday.

Lowe is 0-1 with a 3.21 ERA in two career starts versus Los Angeles, but has not faced the Dodgers since 2004, when he pitched for Boston.

Pitching is the least of the Braves' worries. They have a 3.74 staff ERA, but have been shut out 11 times and rank near the bottom of the majors with 91 homers.

Atlanta tried to bolster its lineup Friday, acquiring LaRoche from Boston in exchange for Casey Kotchman in a swap of first basemen.

"We wanted to have a bigger bat," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "Adam averages 12 to 15 homers in the second half. We thought that would be a boost to our offense."

LaRoche hit .248 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs for Pittsburgh and Boston, which obtained him in a trade July 22. He previously played in Atlanta from 2004-06, and set career highs with 32 homers, 90 RBIs and a .285 batting average in his last season there.

LaRoche is just a .143 (2 for 14) career hitter against Randy Wolf (5-5, 3.43), who is set to take his turn in Los Angeles' rotation. Wolf, who signed a $5 million, one-year contract in the offseason, has done an outstanding job of helping the Dodgers replace Lowe.

The left-hander is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA in his last six starts, working six or more innings in each of those outings. He gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings of Los Angeles' 6-1 loss to St. Louis on Monday night.

Wolf, though, is 0-4 with an 8.75 ERA in his last eight starts against the Braves and 4-11 with a 5.36 ERA in 25 appearances - 23 starts - in his career against them.

If Wolf struggles, the Dodgers won't have Claudio Vargas to turn to. They traded the reliever to Milwaukee on Friday in exchange for minor league catcher Vinny Rottino.

It was the second trade in as many days for Los Angeles, which upgraded its bullpen Thursday by obtaining former All-Star closer George Sherrill from Baltimore for two minor leaguers.

Sherrill struck out the side in the seventh inning Friday in his Los Angeles debut. Dodgers manager Joe Torre isn't concerned about getting enough work for both Sherrill and Jonathan Broxton, the team's incumbent closer.

"More than anything, this will keep the workload from being overwhelming," Torre told the club's official Web site. "Neither closer has the ego that dictates they need to be the one."