Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Derek Lowe seeks to avoid his first 4 game losing streak in his 15 year career tonight in Florida. Lowe 6-10 4.85 overall has the second worst ERA in the majors since early June at 6.54, a ERA hovering around 9.00 in his last 3 outings and has given up 25 runs in 32 innings in his last six games. He has lasted fewer than 6 innings in 8 out of 13 starts. The only bright spot for Lowe is his success against Florida where he only yielded 1 run in 12 innings in two games this season. Florida looks to snap a four game losing streak of their own with South Paw Hand who is 1-3 2.86 ERA overall but has only yielded 2 or fewer runs in his last four outings. Hand has given up 7 HR's this year but Atlanta remains one of the leagues worse in offensive production against lefties. The Marlins troubles include just getting swept at home, have lost 8 out of 10 in Miami and are 9-23 since late May at home. However based upon Lowe's current troubles and not his past performances, Florida could turn it around tonight, but Stanton Sanchez and company have to improve on their strikeout talley at the plate where they average 8.5 K's per game as a team. Stanton and Morrision will also have to improve on their lifetime averages of just .200 and .195 respectively against Atlanta. Ramirez if healthy has an excellent career average at .538 versus Lowe. The Braves are 5-1 SU this season with Florida and 8 out of 9 have fell below the posted under mark. Atlanta's mid relievers and now closers are issuing walks in crucial situations. When combining Bull Pen Walks and Lowe's Woes, Florida can put runners in scoring position if they will simply get the ball into play instead of strikeouts early against Lowe and have the needed plate discipline to get the base on balls in the latter innings against the relievers creating scoring opportunities. Tonight we will look to the Florida Over 4 Total Team in expectation of Stanton and the Marlins to have an effective night offensively extending Lowe's Woes and capitalizing on Bull Pen Walks. Source ESPN MLB Preview.
