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Braves-Giants Preview

Apr 10, 2010 - 2:49 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Atlanta (2-1) at San Francisco (3-0), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The San Francisco Giants are off to their best start in seven years. They hope this season can end in similar fashion.

Coming off an impressive comeback victory, the Giants - seven years removed from their last playoff appearance - look to open with a fifth consecutive win Saturday night when they play the Atlanta Braves.

San Francisco appeared to be on the verge of losing its first game Friday, trailing 4-2 in the ninth inning, but Edgar Renteria hit a tying two-run homer off new closer Billy Wagner with one out. In the 13th, Aaron Rowand drove in the winning run with two outs, keeping the Giants perfect with a 5-4 victory in their home opener.

"We're just trying to keep it rolling - 4-0 is not too bad," Rowand said. "It definitely gives you some momentum, some confidence."

San Francisco is off to its best start since winning its first seven games in 2003, its last playoff year.

Renteria has been carrying the Giants so far, batting .688 with five RBIs, three multihit games and a .737 on-base percentage.

"Edgar's been the man," San Francisco left fielder Mark DeRosa said.

Renteria is batting .308 lifetime against scheduled starter Derek Lowe, who is trying to open with back-to-back victories for the first time in his 14-year career.

Lowe got the win in Atlanta's season opener Monday, but it was hardly a thing of beauty. The sinkerballer yielded five runs and five hits - including two home runs - in six innings of a 16-5 win over Chicago. Lowe insists that shaky performance had nothing to do with the struggles he endured down the stretch last season, when he went 2-1 with a 6.94 ERA in his final five starts.

The right-hander appears to have a good chance at getting things turned around with a start against one of his favorite opponents. In his last three starts against the Giants, Lowe has given up one run over 16 innings. He's also 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA in his last six starts at AT&T Park.

While Atlanta's offense gave Lowe plenty of support in the opener, it hasn't had much success lately, batting .222 with seven runs in the last three games. Highly touted rookie Jason Heyward has gone 1 for 12 with seven strikeouts in that span.

Heyward and the Braves (2-2) hope to get things turned around against Todd Wellemeyer, who is scheduled to take the ball for the Giants after winning the No. 5 spot in the rotation in spring training.

Wellemeyer threw a team-high 30 innings in the Cactus League, going 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight games with five starts.

This will be Wellemeyer's fifth Major League team after spending the past 2 1/2 seasons in St. Louis. The right-hander struggled a bit last season, going 7-10 with a 5.89 ERA in 28 games - 21 starts - after a career year in 2008, when he went 13-9 with a 3.71 ERA in 32 starts.

In his only career start against the Braves on July 29, 2008, Wellemeyer allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings of an 8-3 St. Louis victory, but did not receive a decision.

The Giants have won five straight over the Braves in San Francisco, and eight of the last nine meetings there.