The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves begin a two-game series Monday night at Turner Field in Atlanta. The Braves have won six of the last seven meetings with the Astros.
Atlanta (23-19, 12-10 home) will likely be without Jason Heyward and might be missing Chipper Jones. Heyward has missed the Braves’ last five games with a shoulder injury and expects to be back Tuesday. Jones has a sore knee and was a late scratch Sunday in Atlanta’s 3-2 win against Philadelphia.
Dan Uggla was Atlanta’s hero in Sunday’s win against NL-leading Philadelphia. He hit a tiebreaking home run off Roy Halladay and had his first multihit game since May 4. He entered the game batting .196 and in an 0-for-10 slump over the previous three games.
Houston (15-25, 6-12 away) lost for the sixth time in eight games Sunday with a 7-4 defeat against the New York Mets. Carlos Lee extended his hitting streak to nine games in the loss.
Much of Houston’s struggles can be chalked up to ineffective pitching. The Astros’ 4.97 ERA going into Sunday was last in the majors. Brett Myers (1-3, 5.01 ERA) will be tasked with improving that number Monday as he takes the mound against Atlanta. He is 0-4 with a 5.86 ERA in his most recent five starts against the Braves.
Tommy Hanson (4-3, 2.51 ERA) will hope to continue his hot streak Monday. The right-hander has gone 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in his last four starts after opening up the season 1-3 with a 3.86 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 0.78 ERA in three career starts against the Astros.
