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Braves turn to Lowe in battle with wounded Rockies

Jul 5, 2011 - 3:00 PM (Sports Network) - Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Tommy Hanson proved he belongs on the National league All-Star roster with last night's performance versus the Colorado Rockies at Turner Field.

Now it's up to Derek Lowe to prove he is still the dominant pitcher he once was when he takes the hill for Atlanta tonight in the continuation of this four-game series with Colorado. Before Lowe digs in on the Atlanta mound, he can take a page from what Hanson did in Monday's series-opening 4-1 win.

Hanson was snubbed for an All-Star bid and made the Rockies pay last night by firing seven innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and one walk. He is 10-4 on the season and has recorded at least 10 wins in each of his three seasons at the major league level.

"I was just happy with how I threw the ball. Our game plan worked out," Hanson said after winning his fifth straight start.

Jonny Venters tossed a scoreless eighth inning and Craig Kimbrel registered his 25th save in the ninth.

NL Rookie of the Year candidate Freddie Freeman owns six of his 11 homers over his past 21 games and recorded his first multi-homer game last night. Freeman ended with three RBI and All-Star catcher Brian McCann finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored for Atlanta, which won for the 11th time in 14 tries and is 3-1 on a seven-game homestand versus Baltimore and Colorado. Chipper Jones was not in the lineup after he received a cortisone shot in his sore right knee. Jones is expected to be back in action tonight.

The Braves are the third team in the majors with 50 wins (Yankees, Phillies) and sit four games behind Philadelphia for the NL East lead. Meanwhile, Lowe was 0-3 with a 5.29 earned run average in nine starts before topping Seattle last Wednesday in a 5-3 win at Safeco Field. He held the Mariners to a run and four hits over six innings to push his 2011 record to 4-6 in 18 starts to go along with a 4.16 ERA.

Lowe is allowing a .255 opposing batting average and is just 1-1 in seven starts at Turner Field this season. His previous win at home was versus the New York Mets on April 16 in a 4-2 decision. The right-hander has made 20 career starts against the Rockies, going 9-8 with a 4.37 ERA.

Colorado started a seven-game road trip against Atlanta and Washington on the wrong foot and saw starter Ubaldo Jimenez fall to 3-8 after he gave up three runs on six hits and a walk with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 frames.

Todd Helton knocked in his team's only run in the fourth inning and All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left the loss with right quadriceps tightness suffered during the fourth inning. His status for tonight is unknown for a Rockies ballclub that was without center fielder Carlos Gonzalez. CarGo bruised his right wrist when he ran into the center-field wall in Sunday's loss against Kansas City. X-rays showed no fracture for Gonzalez.

"Just running down the line, it kind of grabbed me a little bit," Tulowitzki said on Colorado's site. "I had some quad things in the past. Tomorrow I'll see if I'm feeling a lot better or if I'm sore."

Rockies newly-acquired second baseman Mark Ellis went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, and entered the game batting .533 (8-for-15) with two homers, four doubles and seven RBI in three games with his new club.

Colorado is 6 1/2 games off the pace in the NL West and has dropped two straight and seven of its last 10 games.

Jhoulys Chacin has taken over as Colorado's ace, but didn't pitch like one his last time out. Chacin gets the nod tonight and is hoping to rebound from a rough start his last time out when he allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings of a 7-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Chacin was 3-0 with a 1.01 earned run average in four starts -- all Rockies victories -- before the Cubs broke out the paddles. The Venezuelan right- hander saw his record drop to 8-5 in 16 starts and his ERA go from 2.71 to slightly higher at 3.10. He has never faced Atlanta in his career and owns a 4-2 mark in seven starts away from Coors Field in 2011.

Colorado and Atlanta are meeting for the first time since the Rockies won four of six matchups a year ago. The Rockies have defeated Atlanta seven times over the previous 12 matchups between the two ballclubs.