Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants Preview

The San Francisco Giants have had the Atlanta Braves’ number out West of late, beating them 4-0 behind Tim Lincecum on Tuesday for their sixth win over Atlanta in seven games at AT&T Park dating back to 2007. The Braves’ 12-20 record at the park is their worst since 2000 at any stadium where they’ve played at least 15 games.

Yet Atlanta is a slight -113 money line favorite on WagerWeb.com for Wednesday’s game.

That’s probably because of the struggles of Giants lefty Randy Johnson, who remains two wins shy of No.

300. Johnson (3-4, 6.26 ERA) has been very inconsistent but was pretty good last time out, giving up one run and six hits with seven strikeouts in 5 1-3 innings of a 2-1, 12-inning loss to Seattle.

He’s posted a 14.18 ERA in losing three of his starts, but is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in his other six. The Big Unit is 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA in 12 career appearances against the Braves. A win tonight would give San Francisco its first series sweep of the year.

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Meanwhile, Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar has missed four straight starts with a strained right hip flexor.

Manager Bobby Cox believes his 26-year-old starter could play tonight but that Thursday’s game against Arizona is more likely. Third baseman Chipper Jones returned Tuesday after missing four consecutive starts with a sprained right big toe. The Braves are 18-16 with him in the lineup, 5-6 without Jones.

Atlanta starts Kenshin Kawakami (3-5, 4.73 tonight). The 33-year-old rookie outdueled 2003 American League Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay of Toronto last time out, throwing eight innings of shutout ball while allowing just three hits and striking out seven. He has an ERA of 2.63 in his past four starts.

This will be Kawakami’s first start against the Giants.

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