The Braves try to even the series tonight after being shut down by Francisco Liriano and the Twins last night. The Braves hitters face a significantly easier task tonight. The Twins' starter, Nick Blackburn, has only 17 strikeouts all year. By contrast, Liriano struck out 11 in 8 innings last night. Blackburn also has given up 10 runs on 20 hits in only 6 innings in his last 2 starts, which is certainly a trend the Braves hope to continue tonight.
Facing off against Blackburn will be Derek Lowe, himself coming off of a rough outing. Let's hope that Derek gets it together again, as he had been on quite a roll before his last start. And let's hope that even if he sucks, he can pick up a DerekLoweWin to counteract the JavierVazquezLoss that Tim Hudson took last night.
With a righty on the mound tonight, Gregor Blanco gets the start in CF, with Eric Hinske at 1B and Troy Glaus DHing. Here's the lineup:
1) Prado, 2B
2) Heyward, RF
3) Jones, 3B
4) McCann, C
5) Glaus, DH
6) Hinske, 1B
7) Escobar, SS
8) Cabrera, LF
9) Blanco, CF