• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Shorthanded Braves aim to snap slide against Pirates

Apr 16, 2009 - 11:53 PM By Kate Hedlin Stats Writer

Atlanta (5-4) at Pittsburgh (4-5) 7:05 p.m. EDT

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves' offense went cold in their last series after a good start to the season.

Opening a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday without two of their best hitters won't help.

Atlanta (5-4) is looking to bounce back after being swept by Florida this week. The Braves, who opened the season scoring 38 runs and hitting .300 in their first six games, were outscored 21-7 in the series and they hit just .198.

"It's a long season," second baseman Kelly Johnson said. "You don't get down about anything."

Atlanta closed the series with a 6-2 loss on Thursday. Kenshin Kawakami gave up five runs in six innings, and the Braves offense suffered another loss when Yunel Escobar left after five innings with a strained abdominal muscle. The shortstop said he thinks he can play Friday, but manager Bobby Cox expects him to miss three or four games. Escobar is hitting .343 (12-for-35) with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs.

The Braves were already without Chipper Jones, who missed his second straight game Thursday with a bruised left thumb. Jones is hoping to return sometime during this series, although it's not certain if he'll be available Friday. He is hitting .333 (8-for-24) with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs in his first six games.

Jones and Escobar weren't the only ones to come out of the series injured. On Thursday, Atlanta placed reliever Jorge Campillo on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. Campillo has pitched in four games this season and was 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

After a tough series, Atlanta looks to get back on track when it hands the ball to Jair Jurrjens (2-0, 2.45 ERA).

Jurrjens hasn't made it through the sixth inning in his first two starts, but he's been effective enough. He allowed four runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings of an 8-5 win over Washington on Sunday.

The right-hander was 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in two starts against the Pirates last season.

Pittsburgh (4-5) dropped the final two games of its series with Houston, including a 6-3 loss on Thursday, after opening the set with a 7-0 victory.

On Thursday, reliever Sean Burnett gave up a three-run tiebreaking homer to Lance Berkman in the sixth. Left fielder Nyjer Morgan was 3-for-5 with a run-scoring triple in the second.

The loss continued to demonstrate the inconsistencies in Pittsburgh's offense. In four wins, the team is batting .353 and averaging 7.5 runs while in the five losses, it's batting .178 and averaging 1.6 runs.

"We're going to have to start coming up with some big hits," manager John Russell told the Pirates' official Web site. "You see good signs, but our offense needs to start clicking as a unit instead of just a couple of guys here and there."

Pittsburgh has opened all three series it's played with a win. The Pirates look to continue that trend Friday behind Paul Maholm (1-0, 1.32), who is looking to build off two effective starts. He pitched seven innings against Cincinnati on Saturday, allowing one run and three hits in a 10-2 victory.

The left-hander is 0-1 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts against the Braves. This is his first time facing them since 2007.

The Pirates won five of the seven meetings between the teams last season.