Back stiffness pushes back Hanson start

With two off days for the Braves over the next two weeks -- Tuesday and April 1 in Washington -- the pitcher had built-in flexibility anyway, so he’ll take his extra time now.

Instead of making his Monday start in Port St. Lucie, he’ll throw a side session that day and then pitch his six innings in a minor league game on Wednesday.

Hanson will tune up with three or four innings in another minor league game, which puts him on regular rest for his first start of the regular season.

Kenshin Kawakami will replace Hanson in Port St. Lucie and make his first start of spring. This also is an opportunity for the Braves to showcase Kawakami. They are seeking trade suitors for Kawakami and at least a portion of his $6.7 million contract.

Kawakami arrived at camp two weeks late because of visa issues. He has pitched three games in relief, going two innings twice. He’s expected to go as many as four innings on Monday.

Lowe benefits from long outing

Opening Day starter Derek Lowe gave up three runs in 5-1/3 innings against the Astros 0n Sunday in his second-to-last start of spring training. He came away pleased with the work he did in stretching out to 95 pitches and battling through fatigue.

“I felt it the last inning and a half,” said Lowe, who gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out five. “But you need that feeling, the fifth and the sixth where your legs are tired, and you run the bases. You take that as a positive.”

Lowe will make one more tune-up start on Saturday, going three or four innings against the Mets. That will leave him set to make his third straight Opening Day start for the Braves on March 31 against the Nationals.

Just counting down to that day becomes the hard part for Lowe.

"Your goal is almost to stay healthy," said Lowe, who has a 1.86 ERA in five spring training starts. "You still have work to do, but the finish line is close, and it’s easy to start letting your mind wander to a week from Thursday.”

Kawakami donates to homeland

Kawakami kicked off the Braves’ efforts to aid victims of the earthquake and tsunami in his native Japan by pledging $50,000 to disaster relief.

The Braves organization, front office staff and players are in the process of gathering funds to donate through the Japanese-American Society of Georgia.

Once the Braves zeroed in on an organization, Kawakami was eager to step up.

“It’s almost obvious that I have to help my country, to donate money; it was just a matter of time,” Kawakami said through his interpreter on Sunday. “Finally, today we were able to do something about it.”

Kawakami lives in Nagoya City, Japan, which is about 500 miles south of the hardest-hit areas. None of his family and friends was affected, but watching and reading about the devastation has weighed on his mind.

“People suffering, their families, their houses; people have lost their lives,” Kawakami said. “It’s really shocking.”

Notable

Chipper Jones extended his hitting streak to nine games by going 3-for-3 Sunday to raise his spring batting average to .420 (21-for-50). He's shown no ill-effects from his August knee surgery at the plate or in the field, where he made another charging play coming in at third base on a slow-roller. ... Reliever George Sherrill pitched scoreless innings Saturday and Sunday in his first back-to-back outings of spring training. With the help of pitching coach Roger McDowell, he's made an adjustment with the angle of his foot against the rubber and it's helping his command. ... Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said neither Tim Hudson nor Hanson, who were scheduled to pitch on March 28, will throw in that 6:05 p.m. game against the Nationals, since the Braves are opening the season three days later against that same lineup. Hudson and Hanson will get their tune-up work in minor league games rather than giving the Nationals a look at them so close to the season-opening series.