Lowe, McLouth lead Atlanta into playoff hunt

Monday, June 29, 2009

When Derek Lowe signed his 4 year $60 million deal with Atlanta last January, he was already looking ahead to October. Upon signing with the Braves he mused, "They've missed out the last few years; but, I really want to do my part to get the Braves back into the playoffs".

After his first 16 starts Lowe certainly is doing his part, sporting a 7-4 record with a solid 3.14 ERA. His start last Saturday, June 27, (7 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 4 K, 3 BB) against his old team, the Red Sox, was characteristic of the gritty performances Braves manager Bobby Cox has come to expect of his ace.

"Derek really knows how to battle," Cox said. "He'll give up a few hits, a walk or two here and there; but, he saves a little something to get out of a jam. He's one intelligent pitcher, I'll tell you."

Even so, Cox has to be concerned about his relievers. After the disastrous ninth inning last Tuesday against the Yankees when they managed to blow a 3-1 lead into an 8-3 loss, they nearly let Lowe's win against the Red Sox get away by giving up a 3 run homer in the ninth to make it a very tight 5-4 victory. It was eerily reminiscent of the opening day 9 run collapse in the ninth against the Phillies.

"Yes, it was," Cox admitted. "We certainly are going to need better work coming out of the pen. Soriano's capable of much better and so are the rest of our guys."

Not only is Lowe holding up his part, Nate McLouth, who came over from Pittsburgh the day before the season started, is proving to be a great team player who has sparked the Atlanta offense. McLouth said upon arriving in Atlanta that he would prefer to hit more in the middle of the lineup, to be an RBI man. But he acknowledged, "I know that we've got Chipper (Jones) and (Brian) McCann sitting at 3 and 4 in our order. Bobby says he needs me to lead off; so I'll just do my best there to get us where we all want to be."

And he's certainly done that; in 73 games he's hitting .320 with 27 2Bs, 8 HRs, 46 RBIs, 64 Runs and a .515 SLG PCT... all this out of the top of the order! Combining with the number two hitters (Casey Kotchman, hitting a surprising .336 and Yunell Escobar, also surprising at .334) they have been setting the table well for what is currently the most productive offense in the league.

McLouth observed "I knew when I came here we had some good hitters, but I've come to appreciate them even more playing beside them every day. Now if our starting pitching can turn it up just a notch and our reworked bullpen can pitch to their capabilities, we may be a force to reckon with in October."