Braves at Brewers
Since starting the season with seven straight road victories, the Atlanta Braves have shown a disturbing inability to win away from home, dropping 18 of 27. Visiting the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday is hardly the ideal formula to turn things around for the Braves, who have lost seven straight at Miller Park following a 2-0 defeat in Friday's series opener. Atlanta will try to halt the skid behind Tim Hudson, who will be attempting to solve his own woes away from home.
Milwaukee has won 10-of-19 games this month as it attempts to recover from a wretched 6-22 mark in May. The Brewers have won four straight at home, yielding a total of eight runs during the streak. Pitching has been key to the turnaround for Milwaukee, which has seen its starters register nine quality starts and post a 1.81 ERA in the last 12 games.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, SportsSouth (Atlanta), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Tim Hudson (4-6, 4.17 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Donovan Hand (0-0, 3.38)
Hudson is mired in one of the longest victory droughts of his career, going 0-5 over his last eight starts. The 37-year-old veteran has deserved a better fate over his last four outings, during which he's yielded a total of five earned runs and pitched at least seven innings in each. Hudson is 1-6 with a 6.07 ERA in eight road starts.
Hand has made eight relief appearances since being called up from the minors in late May and will be making his first major-league start. His longest outing has been three innings and he threw a season-high 47 pitches in his debut, so it's unlikely he can work deep into the game. Opponents are batting .294 against the 28-year-old Hand.
WALK-OFFS
1. Hudson is 4-4 with a 3.30 ERA in 10 career starts against the Brewers.
2. Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez is 6-for-19 lifetime against Hudson.
3. Atlanta, which was shut out for the 10th time Friday, enters Saturday's game with two starters batting above .240.