Next for Braves: Houston Astros
Series preview: vs. Astros
When (TV): 7:35 p.m. Friday (PTV), 7:10 p.m. Saturday (PTV), 1:35 p.m. Sunday (FSS)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5
Probable starting pitchers:
Friday: Braves RH Tim Hudson (10-4, 3.68 ERA) vs. RH Armando Galarraga (0-0, 3.60)
Saturday: Braves LH Paul Maholm (9-6, 3.74) vs. RH Lucas Harrell (8-7, 4.03)
Sunday: Braves RH Kris Medlen (2-1, 2.43) vs. RH Bud Norris (5-8, 5.02)
About the Braves:
Batting: In his last 20 games (before Thursday), Brian McCann is hitting .304 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs. Michael Bourn, who got a rare day off Wednesday, has struggled at the plate since the All-Star break. He hit .201 with 30 strikeouts in 81 at-bats in the past 18 games. The Braves are seventh in the National League with a .257 team average. In 41 games since June 6, Dan Uggla is hitting .127 (9-for-150) with 58 strikeouts.
Pitching: Maholm will be making his Braves debut after being acquired in a trade with the Cubs this week. He had a 4-0 record and 1.23 ERA in July. Hudson, winner of his past four decisions, will be looking for his 100th victory as a Brave. It will be Medlen’s second start since joining the rotation.
Miscellaneous: The Braves had a season-high seven-game win streak snapped Wednesday. A 10-game homestand will be completed Sunday followed by six games in seven days against division rivals Phillies and Mets.
About the Astros:
Batting: First baseman Brett Wallace went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs in Wednesday’s 13-4 loss to the Brewers, his third game back from Triple-A. The Astros are tied for the second-worst team batting average in the National League at .242. Former Brave Jordan Schafer is hitting .219 this season, including a 1-for-19 slump in his past 10 games.
Pitching: The Astros are next to last in the National League with an ERA of 4.82. Only the Rockies are worse at 5.40. Galarraga is making his second start after spending the season at Triple-A. The Astros have committed 75 errors behind their pitchers, third most in the NL. Harrell has a 1.82 ERA in his past four starts. Norris is 0-7 in his past 10 starts with his last win coming May 21.
Miscellaneous: The Astros are 3-26 in the past 29 games, including a 3-24 July with a .111 winning percentage being the fifth worst for a month in baseball history.
- Chris Vivlamore
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
30 comments Add your comment
bbkorbel
August 2nd, 2012
3:18 pm
But Chris! I don’t want to be first! Let’s see if we can sweep this future American League trash out of town!
me
August 2nd, 2012
3:18 pm
Yes sweep!!!!
AtheistLoveChristmas
August 2nd, 2012
3:18 pm
Not even done with today and we’re already looking towards the future. I like it. Braves taking care of business with the teams that they should. I expect a sweep. That’s be nice
AtheistLoveChristmas
August 2nd, 2012
3:20 pm
Astro’s aren’t going to have it any better moving divisions next year either. Kind of sucks for them. Forever in rebuilding mode.
fuzzmeister
August 2nd, 2012
3:22 pm
Just win Bravos
urban redneck
August 2nd, 2012
3:42 pm
glad jordan shafer is coming back in town. my stash is getting low.
Gay Chiken
August 2nd, 2012
4:00 pm
My take on the small crowds: absolutely nothing to do around The Ted before the game. If there were a few pubs/pizza/burger joints outside the Ted, Braves would draw much larger crowds.
bbkorbel
August 2nd, 2012
4:20 pm
True enough Gay Chicken…this ain’t Wrigleyville! But if I ever won the BIG Powerball by myself, I’d invest about 10-mill into the area & let the fun fly!
Negative Creep
August 2nd, 2012
4:38 pm
Yeah! Everyone, lets count the Astros series as a sweet already! Just like we were going to make the playoffs last year for SURE! All I’m saying is hold your horses. There is a loooong way to go in the season and if you remember, our slide didn’t start until the last month of the season last year. Oh, and at this point last year, we had a better record. Just keep playing ball….oh, and get Uggla hitting already!
Choppy
August 2nd, 2012
5:02 pm
Tenth!!!!
Yogi Berra
August 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Tonights line-up:
Bourn Cf
Johnson RF
Heward LF
Jones 3b
Freeman 1st
McCann C
Uggla 2b Janish SS
Minor P
O'flarity's water bottle
August 2nd, 2012
7:00 pm
Gay Chiken , Gay as in happy or do you love the rooster?
lee maye
August 2nd, 2012
11:17 pm
Urban Redneck: You are an idiot.
John Lenin
August 3rd, 2012
1:27 am
Wait…if it was a gay chicken, couldn’t it be a female who wanted the hens? So sexist to assume it’s a male…shame on you!!
arizona brave
August 3rd, 2012
11:22 am
Why is Uggla still in the line up??????
Brave4life-1995 All over again
August 3rd, 2012
12:36 pm
No disrespect to the Astros, But anything less than a sweep I would be disappointed.
No playoff's as F.G..is managing.
August 3rd, 2012
12:39 pm
Great, question, Arizona Brave.
No playoff's as F.G..is managing.
August 3rd, 2012
12:41 pm
You can say, that again. lee maye.
JNick
August 3rd, 2012
1:34 pm
@Yogi, there are two major problems with your lineup….
snoopy
August 3rd, 2012
2:05 pm
fire FG!!!!!!
snoopy
August 3rd, 2012
2:06 pm
GAY Chiken must be a SC fan too smh
McGoo
August 3rd, 2012
3:06 pm
7 games is not the season high. We have had 2 eight game winning streaks. Get your facts straight
Keith
August 3rd, 2012
3:37 pm
Re: McGoo
Actually, that was an 8-game losing streak. We have not had an 8-game winning streak.
Check the “schedule/results” above.
Go BRAVES
CarJack
August 3rd, 2012
3:39 pm
why don’t they move Asros to AL. It has always bugged me that the AL West has 4 teams and the NL Central has 6 teams and every other NL/AL division has 5 teams – it seems ridiculous that this has not happened yet – makes sense to have both Texas teams in the same baseball division.
CarJack
August 3rd, 2012
3:40 pm
bbrokel saying “sweep this AL West Trash(Houston who is in NL Central) made me think of this…….
Playing GM
August 3rd, 2012
3:50 pm
Hey, why didn’t anyone think of this before…oh,wait.
Struggla
August 3rd, 2012
3:57 pm
They ARE moving to the AL West next season
Disgusted
August 3rd, 2012
4:35 pm
I am gonna miss Houston in the N.L., those were some wins for the Braves.
Go Hudson, you know, if he can pitch into his 40’s he just might get in the high 200’s or even more.
Say if he has one more 20 W year and is able to pitch say, 7 or 8 more yrs and get close to 300 W, you have to think Cooperstown.
The way the game is managed in this era, 240-260 W is the new 300, just like 15 or 16 W in a season is the new 20.
Disgusted
August 3rd, 2012
4:39 pm
School starts too early. That is part of the small crowds and if there was a rail line it would attract a half milllion more fannies in the seats.
Those two factors are a part of it.
Reduce the dam school yr, keep it from the day after Labor day to Friday before memorial day,
Man, how much junk did I listen to in school did I not use in real life. And, I have not done badly.
Shakesphere and Geometry were the biggest waste of time. I liked math but Geometry was dummer than WAR. And Earth Science, well that was a bore with a lousy teacher.
TEACHERS!!!!!! LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ohhhhYEAH
August 3rd, 2012
5:36 pm
Probably because he has hits in three of the past four games now with 4 RBI, and his bat is starting to show signs of life? That’s a good enough reason for me. Not to mention he still gets walks, still busts his @$$ and still contributes defensively. But sure lets sit him on the bench when he’s starting to come around. GREAT plan.