Series preview: Braves at White Sox
When (TV): 8:10 p.m. Friday (FSSO), 4:05 p.m. Saturday (Fox), 2:10 p.m. Sunday (FSSO)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5
Probable starting pitchers:
Friday: Braves RH Tim Hudson (6-7, 4.02 ERA) vs. LH John Danks (2-6, 4.31)
Saturday: Braves LH Paul Maholm (9-8, 3.98) vs. RH Jake Peavy (6-4, 4.30)
Sunday: Braves LH Mike Minor (9-4, 3.02) vs. LH Jose Quintana (4-2, 3.71)
About the Braves:
Batting: Brian McCann is 25-for-61 (.410) with six doubles, five homers and 15 RBIs in his past 16 games, and a .464 OBP and only eight strikeouts. … Chris Johnson is 31-for-86 (.360) with eight extra-base hits, 14 RBIs and a .409 OBP in his past 23 games. He has six errors in his past 22 games. … Dan Uggla is 8-for-38 (.211) with .279 OBP in past 10 games, but with three doubles, four homers, nine RBIs and a .605 slugging percentage.
Pitching: Hudson won his past two starts to make him 2-3 with a 2.48 ERA in eight starts since the beginning of June. After scoring 1.56 runs per nine innings Hudson pitched in the first six starts in that period, the Braves scored 17 runs the past two games while he was in. Hudson is 3-3 with a 5.19 ERA in eight starts vs. the White Sox, including 0-3 with a 10.45 ERA in four starts at U.S. Cellular Field, his worst record and ERA at the 38 ballparks in which he's pitched. … Maholm is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in three starts vs. the White Sox; Minor hasn't faced them.
Miscellaneous: This will be just the second series between the teams in nine seasons. The Braves were swept in a three-game series on the South Side in June 2010. … At U.S. Cellular Field, Gerald Laird has hit .306 (19-for-62) with seven doubles and three homers in 20 games, and Reed Johnson is 20-for-53 (.377) in 18 games. The only other Brave to play more than three games there is Uggla (4-for-25, two HRs, 11 strikeouts).
About the White Sox:
Batting: 2B Gordon Beckham, Atlanta native and former University of Georgia standout, has hit .335 in 158 at-bats this season, including .348 (46-for-132) with 12 extra-base hits (two homers) in his past 35 games. … Adam Dunn is 23-for-74 (.311) with six homers, 18 RBIs and a .440 OBP in his past 22 games. … Roswell native Tyler Flowers, an ex-Braves catching prospect, is 8-for-53 (.151) with two homers, one walk and 19 strikeouts in his past 17 games.
Pitching: Danks is 1-2 with a 2.93 ERA in his past four starts, all quality starts. He's 2-6 with a 4.31 ERA in his past 10 starts, with 45 strikeouts and only eight walks in 62-2/3 innings, but with 63 hits allowed, including 12 homers. Danks is 2-1 with a 2.22 ERA in his past four home starts. He faced the Braves once, a win in 2010 (seven innings, three runs, six hits). … Peavy, out since June 4 with a fractured rib, is 2-4 with a 3.97 ERA in seven starts against the Braves.
Miscellaneous: Ex-Red Dunn is 11-for-31 (.355) with four homers against Hudson. Dunn has a .253 average and 21 homers in 83 games (285 at-bats) against the Braves, with 97 strikeouts, a .360 OBP and .526 slugging percentage. … The White Sox went 5-13 with a 4.82 ERA in their last 18 games before the All-Star break, including 2-7 with a 5.56 ERA at home during that period. They allowed eight or more earned runs in three of those nine home games, including 18 in a 19-10 loss to the Indians.
