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Braves give Lowe ball in finale at Seattle

Jun 29, 2011 - 2:58 PM (Sports Network) - Brian McCann showed again last night that he remains one of the top offensive catchers in the game.

Atlanta hopes that the other side of his game will help get starter Derek Lowe his first win in almost two months.

Lowe takes the hill for today's finale of a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners looking to pitch the Braves to a three-game sweep at Safeco Field.

Lowe is 0-3 with a 5.29 earned run average over a nine-start winless drought that began following his last win on May 6. The veteran righty has allowed 13 earned runs over his past 16 innings, spanning three starts and producing an 0-2 mark. That includes a loss at San Diego on Friday, when Lowe allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings of work.

"It was a frustrating game because they weren't hitting the cover off the ball, but they were getting hits and runs," Lowe said.

The 38-year-old fell to 3-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 17 starts this season and today will square off against the team that drafted him in the eighth round back in 1991. Lowe then broke into the majors in 1997 with Seattle, but was dealt to Boston during that season. He is 5-4 with three saves and a 3.30 ERA in 20 career games (six starts) against his inaugural club.

McCann is likely to be catching Lowe tonight after producing seven hits and three runs batted in over the first two games of this series. He matched a career high with four hits in last night's 5-4 victory, connecting on a tie- breaking two-run single in the seventh inning.

McCann is hitting .444 (16-for-36) over his past 10 games with five homers and nine RBI.

Dan Uggla homered to help Atlanta win for the seventh time in nine games, while Tommy Hanson returned from the disabled list to pitch six solid innings. After missing time with right shoulder tendinitis, he struck out eight batters and allowed three runs.

"Tommy hung in there for six innings and we were able to get the lead and hold it," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "For him not to pitch as strong as we've seen him and to still get the win is outstanding."

Ichiro Suzuki and Jack Cust homered, but the Mariners faltered for the sixth time in eight contests. Michael Pineda was charged with four hits, five walks and four earned runs over 6 1/3 innings to take the loss.

"He just didn't have the command we've seen him have," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of Pineda. "He battled, he gave us everything he had like he does, but it just wasn't as crisp as we've seen him as the game wore on."

Mariners starting catcher Miguel Olivo left the game with cramps in the fourth inning and was replaced by Chris Gimenez, who played despite a strained oblique.

Taking the hill Wednesday for the Mariners is Felix Hernandez, who has alternated wins and losses in five starts this month while posting a 3.19 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings.

Hernandez is coming off a win over the Marlins on Friday in a game that featured Florida as the home team in Seattle due to a scheduling conflict at Sun Life Stadium. The right-hander delighted the home crowd with eight innings of one-run ball, yielding two hits, two walks and hitting a career-high three batters.

"In the third inning, he just got everything together," Olivo said of Hernandez. "In the second inning, he hit a couple guys. After the third inning, (he was) a different guy. Everything started working: the changeup, the slider, the curve, the sinker. Unbelievable."

The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner also fanned 10 for his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season, improving to 8-6 with a 3.19 ERA in 17 starts this season. Hernandez is also among the league leaders with 118 strikeouts.

The 25-year-old faces the Braves for the first time.

The Mariners and Braves came into this series having split six all-time meetings, with Seattle taking two of three at home back in 2003. Atlanta returned the favor on its home field in 2008.