Atlanta @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 8, 2010 ) Atlanta 7, Arizona 5
The Atlanta Braves have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the last month, excelling in nearly every facet of the game.
And while the victories have been increasing, so has the winless streak of one of their starting pitchers.
As surprising as it may seem, the team that is nine games above .500 has a pitcher that is eight games below .500 this season and hasn’t won since Aug. 31, 2009.
Yes, Kenshin Kawakami is 0-8 this season and has lost 10 consecutive decisions as he enters today’s contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the third of a four-game series.
It’s not like Kawakami has been bombed in all 11 starts either. He has allowed two runs or fewer three times, including throwing six shutout innings against Cincinnati on May 19.
In fact, he hasn’t allowed more than five runs in any of his starts and he’s only given up that many twice. One of those occasions was in his last start, when he allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Kawamaki has given up five hits or fewer in five of his 11 starts and he has twice as many strikeouts (36) as walks (18).
The last time a Braves pitcher started 0-8, the franchise was located in Boston. We’re talking 1925, when Rosy Ryan started 0-8.
Atlanta manager Bobby Cox gave Kawakami a vote of confidence after his last loss, expressing satisfaction with the way Kawakami had pitched this season.
Kawakami, who has a 4.91 earned-run average, got a no-decision against Arizona earlier this season when he allowed four runs – three earned – and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Ian Kennedy starts for Arizona. He opposed Kawakami in the earlier contest and took a shutout into the seventh.
Kennedy allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings with the first run coming on Brian McCann’s homer. The other two runs were charged to him after Juan Gutierrez allowed a game-tying three-run homer to Nate McLouth. Atlanta won the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Kennedy (3-3, 3.46 ERA) has pitched solidly in 12 starts. He has 65 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings but has given up 14 homers, including three in his most recent start against Colorado.
The Diamondbacks and Braves split the first two games of the series.
Former Braves player Kelly Johnson had three RBIs for the Diamondbacks during Tuesday’s loss while third baseman Mark Reynolds has homered in both games.
Atlanta outfielder Melky Cabrera is 5-for-9 with three RBIs over the first two games while infielder Omar Infante has gone 5-for-10.
Infante started at second base in Tuesday’s game as Martin Prado rested a sore hand.
Prado leads the National League with a .325 average and has a 12-game hitting streak going. He’s expected to be back in the lineup today.
Third baseman Chipper Jones returned to the Braves lineup on Tuesday after missing five games with a finger injury. Jones went 1-for-6.