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Diamondbacks-Braves Preview

May 13, 2010 - 6:40 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Arizona (14-21) at Atlanta (16-18), 7:35 p.m. EDT

A sudden offensive burst has the Atlanta Braves gaining confidence, and a three-game series against one of the worst staffs in baseball may keep them rolling.

The Braves look to continue their hot hitting Friday night when they face the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks at Turner Field.

Atlanta (16-18) hit .307 with five homers and outscored Milwaukee 28-7 in three games this week. The Braves collected 28 hits - half for extra bases - in the final two games, completing the sweep with Wednesday's 9-2 win.

Despite the surge, the Braves are 14th in the NL with a .239 average.

"You need to have confidence and get a little swagger back," manager Bobby Cox said.

Atlanta could be in for another strong offensive display against the last-place Diamondbacks (14-21), whose 5.72 ERA is only better than Pittsburgh's 5.80. Arizona's bullpen is the worst in baseball with a 7.37 ERA.

Braves first baseman Troy Glaus is on a tear this month, hitting .386 with two homers - both against the Brewers - and 14 RBIs during Atlanta's 7-4 run. He had a .194 average with two homers and nine RBIs in the previous 23 games after being limited to 14 games with St. Louis last year while recovering from shoulder surgery.

"It's still the same swing I've had the last 15 years," Glaus told the team's official website. "Now I'm finding some holes and earlier I wasn't. I've felt good all year, it's just a matter of being productive."

The Braves expect to get Chipper Jones back in the lineup after a sore groin forced him to miss two of four games. The third baseman had a pinch-hit RBI double Wednesday but is hitting .239.

If Jones is unable to play, Brooks Conrad would be the likely replacement again after he had four hits with a double, two homers and five RBIs in the last two games.

Kenshin Kawakami (0-6, 5.73 ERA), tied with the Pirates' Charlie Morton for the most losses in baseball, hopes to benefit from the Braves' sudden success at the plate.

The right-hander allowed five runs and seven hits with a career high-tying three homers in 6 2-3 innings of a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday.

"Honestly, I deserve that 0-6 record," Kawakami said. "I haven't pitched well, and giving up those runs, there's no excuse for that."

Kawakami lost his only start against Arizona on May 16, 2009, giving up three runs in five innings of a 12-0 home defeat.

The Braves won four of seven from the Diamondbacks last year.

Arizona begins a five-game road trip after Wednesday's 6-3 loss to Los Angeles capped an 0-6 homestand, during which it batted .195 and was outscored 52-15. The Diamondbacks haven't dropped seven in a row since Aug. 16-22.

Adam LaRoche, who had two hits to break a 1-for-17 slump, is hoping Thursday's day off - Arizona's first since April 22 - will help the team get untracked.

"Hopefully we'll regroup a little bit and realize we're a lot better team than this," said LaRoche, who drove in all three of Arizona's runs Wednesday.

Ian Kennedy (2-2, 3.48), facing Atlanta for the first time, has received no more than two runs of support in five of his last six outings. The right-hander allowed two runs or less for the fifth time in that span Sunday but suffered his first loss since April 13, going seven innings in a 6-1 loss to the Brewers.