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Pre Game: Mets vs. Braves (Game One)

by Michael Baron on July 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

The Mets (42-45) open up the second half of their season with a four game series against the Braves (43-45) tonight at Turner Field.

Angel Pagan will leadoff and be in center field, followed by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Gary Sheffield, Jeff Francoeur, Daniel Murphy, Alex Cora. and Brian Schneider.

Oliver Perez (2-2, 8.78 ERA) will start for the Mets. Perez made his return to the big leagues against the Dodgers last week and earned the victory despite throwing just five innings and allowing seven walks. This is Perez’s first outing against the Braves in 2009 but pitched to a 3.72 ERA in 19 1/3 innings against the Braves last year with no record.

Derek Lowe (8-7, 4.39 ERA) will start for the Braves. Lowe has seen his ERA rise from 3.44 to where it is today since June 9 and he has lost five of his last eight decisions. In his last ten starts Lowe has averaged just over 5 2/3 innings per start.