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Peavy, Padres host struggling Braves

Jul 11, 2008 - 1:52 PM Atlanta (43-49) at San Diego (36-56), 10:05 pm EDT

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Jake Peavy and the San Diego Padres host the offensively-inconsistent Atlanta Braves on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Peavy (6-5, 2.67 ERA) is starting to heat up after missing nearly a month on the disabled list with an elbow injury.

Peavy is coming off his best of the five starts since his return, tossing seven scoreless frames in Saturday's 4-2 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The righthander yielded just three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

The Braves are 3-7 over the last 10 contests, scoring just nine runs in the losses, while exploding for 22 runs in their victories over that span.

Atlanta starter JoJo Reyes (3-7, 4.40) will need some run support in order to snap his personal three-game losing streak. The 23-year-old lefthander surrendered four runs and six hits with three walks over 4 1/3 innings during Saturday's 6-1 setback to the Houston Astros.

Jeff Francoeur, playing in his second game since his brief stint in the minors, hit a solo home run Wednesday, but the Braves suffered a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Francoeur is batting just .234 with nine home runs and 42 RBI this season.

Scott Hairston homered for the fifth time in as many games on Wednesday, but the San Diego Padres suffered a 5-2 setback to the Florida Marlins. Hairston is hitting .259 with 14 blasts and 28 RBI on the campaign.