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Nady, Pirates look to keep Braves winless

Apr 2, 2008 - 1:11 PM Pittsburgh (1-0) at Atlanta (0-2) 7:10 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Xavier Nady and the Pittsburgh Pirates try to build off their Opening Day win on Wednesday when they visit the Atlanta Braves.

The 29-year-old Nady homered twice, including a three-run blast in the 12th inning, and drove in four runs to lead the Pirates to a 12-11 victory over the Braves in the opener of this three-game series Monday.

It was the ideal beginning to the season for Nady, who is looking to bounce back from a nagging left hamstring injury which limited him to just 125 games in 2007.

Despite missing 37 games, Nady established career-highs of 20 home runs and 72 RBI last season.

Nady also boasted a .290 batting average before a 7-for-40 slump over the final 10 games of the season dropped him to .278 for the entire campaign.

Pittsburgh ace Tom Gorzelanny makes his first start of 2007 on Wednesday. The 25-year-old lefthander was the only starter to post a winning record (14-10) for the club last season.

Righthander Jair Jurrjens, acquired from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for shortstop Edgar Renteria during the offseason, will make his Braves debut.