Pittsburgh's revenge on Atlanta may be served up cold Thursday night at Turner Field in the form of Pirate starting pitcher Correia. While coming off his worst outing of the year and 0-2 9.42 ERA overall last three, Correia is 9-2 2.85 ERA overall on the road this year with a 1.08 WHIP. Correia is also 10-2 against the ML on the road this season to accompnay his 11-8 record. He is 1-1 4.74 ERA in four starts versus Atlanta. The other side of the coin will have Lowe looking to post a 11-0 career record against Pittsburgh. Lowe's past dominace of the Pirates does not include the current scrappy squad who have been playing fundamental baseball this year with a winning road record. Lowe's ERA in the month of July is 5.96 in addition to a home ERA of 5.04 to accompany his 6-8 record. Lowe does have a 2.64 ERA overall in matchups with the Pirates for his career. Many consider Lowe to be a weaker link in the Atlanta rotation this year with his tendency to fall behind before the fifth inning. Some early offense tonight by Pittsburgh may yield enough runs for them to avenge their heart breaking loss the other night at the hands of the home plate umpire. Neither pitcher has faced the opposing team this season. Atlanta has had serious problems advancing baserunners when aboard since the All Star Break while the Pirates have been getting the upper hand with the early lead in most games of the series. If Correia can avoid giving up the Home Run Ball, Atlanta's inability to advance baserunner has the probabilty to continue. Source ESPN MLB Preview.
