Series preview: Braves vs. Cubs
When (TV): 7:10 p.m. Monday-Thursday (SPSO)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5
Probable starting pitchers:
Monday: Braves RH Tommy Hanson (9-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. RH Jeff Samardzija (5-7, 5.05)
Tuesday: Braves RH Jair Jurrjens (1-2, 6.07) vs. RH Chris Volstad (0-6, 7.46)
Wednesday: Braves RH Randall Delgado (4-8, 4.52) vs. LH Paul Maholm (5-6, 4.84)
Thursday: Braves LH Mike Minor (4-6, 6.20) vs. RH Matt Garza (4-6, 4.01)
About the Braves:
Batting: Jason Heyward is 15-for-48 (.313) with five homers, 15 RBIs and a 1.070 OPS in 14 career games vs. the Cubs. He just finished one of the two best months of his career, hitting .348 with 16 extra-base hits (six homers) and a 1.053 OPS in June. (The other was May 2010, when he hit .337 with 14 extra-base hits (four homers) and a 1.081 OPS).... Bourn has a .304 average, .375 OBP and 27 stolen bases in 64 games vs. the Cubs.
Pitching: Hanson was 4-0 with a 3.13 ERA in five June starts. He's 3-2 with a 4.54 ERA in seven home starts, compared to 6-2 with a 2.89 ERA in nine road starts. However, he's 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA in his past three home starts. Against the Cubs, Hanson is 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA in three starts, while Minor is 3-0 with a 4.86 ERA in three starts. The Braves scored 0, 1 and 1 runs while Hanson was in games against the Cubs.... Jurrjens is 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA in four starts vs. Cubs, and Delgado allowed three hits and one run in 5-1/3 innings and got no decision in his only start against them.
Miscellaneous: Michael Bourn is 4-for-7 against Samardzija... On May 7, Heyward hit a first-inning homer off Samardzija, and was hit by a Samardzija pitch to lead off the seventh.... The Braves are 13-15 vs. the Cubs since the beginning of 2008 season. That included a 1-2 series defeat May 7-9 at Chicago when they lost to Samardzija and Maholm during the Cubs' only good stretch this season. Atlanta totaled four runs in that series.... McCann has a .180 average in 37 games vs. the Cubs, albeit with five homers and 19 RBIs.
About the Cubs:
Batting: After hitting .250 with no homers and a .590 OPS in 30 games through May 14, Alfonso Soriano had a .291 average with 15 homers and a 1.005 OPS in his past 42 games before Sunday.... Reed Johnson, who hit .333 with a .390 OBP in 54 at-bats in June, has a .452 average (14-for-31) with two doubles and a homer at Turner Field.
Pitching: Samardzija is 0-4 with a 12.27 ERA in his past four starts, after going 3-2 with a 2.86 ERA in the previous eight. In his May 7 win against Atlanta, he allowed five hits, one run and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings. He has a 6.37 ERA in eight road starts, and a 3.88 ERA in seven home games.... Maholm is 2-1 with a stingy 1.33 ERA in eight starts vs. Braves, and winless (0-1) in five at Turner Field despite a 1.54 ERA.... Volstad is 2-4 with a 4.22 ERA in nine starts vs. Braves, and Garza is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts against them.
Miscellaneous: The Cubs were 13-29 with a 4.94 ERA in their past 42 games before Sunday.... In 52 career games against the Braves, Soriano has hit .325 with 19 homers, 41 RBIs and 1.056 OPS. In 24 games at Turner Field, he has eight homers, 18 RBIs and a .644 slugging percentage.... Ian Stewart is 3-for-6 with two homers off Braves starter Tommy Hanson.
— By David O'Brien
