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Pirates-Braves Preview

May 28, 2010 - 6:02 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Pittsburgh (20-28) at Atlanta (25-22), 7:35 p.m. EDT

Derek Lowe certainly hasn't been the most consistent pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, but two straight matchups with the Pittsburgh Pirates could go a long way in helping him get on track.

The Braves hope Lowe can beat the Pirates for the second time in six days and remain unbeaten against them for his career as these teams open a three-game series Friday night a Turner Field.

Lowe (6-4, 5.30 ERA) had a tough start to his second season with Atlanta (25-22), posting a 6.16 ERA through his first seven outings.

But the veteran right-hander has gone 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA in his last three starts, including a win over Pittsburgh (20-28) on Saturday night. Lowe gave up two runs and struck out five in five innings of a 4-2 victory, improving to 8-0 with 2.96 ERA in eight starts versus the Pirates.

The Braves' bullpen worked five scoreless innings in an 8-3 win over Florida on Thursday night. Atlanta moved within 1 1/2 games of first-place Philadelphia in the NL East after getting three hits and two RBIs from Martin Prado.

Prado went 3 for 17 (.176) over his previous four games.

"I've been struggling the last week so I tried to have a different approach," Prado said.

Braves catcher Brian McCann sat out after straining his right quadriceps while running the bases Wednesday in a 7-3 victory over the Marlins, but doesn't expect to miss any more time.

McCann has four homers and 12 RBIs in 13 home games against the Pirates.

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones is 0 for 8 in his last two home games versus Pittsburgh after going 11 for 23 (.478) with eight RBIs in his previous five. Jones is 11 for 21 (.524) against Pirates left-hander Zach Duke (3-4, 4.47), who is making his second straight start against the Braves.

Duke allowed an unearned run and struck out five in seven innings in a 3-2, 10-inning win over the Braves on Sunday, improving to 2-3 with a 3.83 ERA in eight starts against them.

Duke is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in his last two outings overall.

Pittsburgh could certainly use a boost from Duke after allowing 12 hits in an 8-2 loss to Cincinnati on Thursday night. The Pirates aren't faring any better at the plate, losing 4-0 to the Reds the previous evening.

Though Andy LaRoche was back in the lineup, Pittsburgh couldn't bounce back from its seventh shutout of the season. LaRoche missed the previous five games with a sore back.

"Hopefully, he stays healthy. We'll have to keep an eye on it and see if he's starting to favor it again," manager John Russell told the Pirates' official website.

The injury limited LaRoche to one game in last week's series with Atlanta, which won two of three.