The Braves are 6-1 since the All-Star break with a 2.14 ERA, moving within three games of Colorado for the wild card lead and 5 1/2 of Philadelphia for the NL East lead.

Atlanta can post its second five-game winning streak in four weeks with a victory today.

The Giants, meanwhile, have dropped six of seven to fall 1 1/2 games behind Colorado in the wild card race.

San Francisco hopes Barry Zito can be the one to finally shut down the Braves. Zito is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in three starts versus the Braves

Atlanta will go with Kenshin Kawakami, who is 2-4 at home despite a 3.42 ERA.

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Despite having one of the NL’s best ERAs, Jurrjens has won just two of his last eight starts. The Braves are averaging 3.4 runs during these outings.

Jurrjens faces the Mets, who have lost four straight on the road, for the second time this season. In a 4-3, 10-inning loss at Citi Field on May 12, he surrendered two runs and seven hits in 7 2-3 innings.

Mets righthander Mike Pelfrey went seven innings in that contest and yielded two runs and six hits. He is 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA in three career starts at Atlanta.

Chipper Jones is 4 for 13 with two homers lifetime against Pelfrey.

Atlanta, which is listed as a -220 favorite, has won nine of 12 at home against New York.

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Oliver Perez will take the mound for the New York Mets Thursday as they try to start the second half of the season with a win against the Atlanta Braves.

Perez is 2-2 with a 8.78 ERA this season.

Very few things have been going right for the Mets this season and any hopes of a run at the postseason seems to have been wrecked by injuries.

A 5-8 post-All-Star break record in July last season pushed the Braves out of contention.

Mark Teixeira and Mark Kotsay were gone shortly thereafter.

The Braves hope that this year will be different. They’ll find out very quickly with four games against the Mets and four games against the very hot San Francisco Giants.

Derek Lowe will be given the ball to start the second half for the Braves. Lowe is 8-7 with a 4.39 ERA so far this season.

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One night after straining his right groin in a 4-2 loss to the Cubs, Jones sat out Atlanta’s 2-1 victory Tuesday and could miss this contest.

Atlanta is 6-8 in games not started by Jones, who’s 5-for-12 with three RBI versus the Cubs this season.

The -105 favored Braves hope Kenshin Kawakami can bounce back from his last start.

The righthander allowed five runs and six hits while striking out six in 4 1-3 innings, but didn’t factor in a 9-8 win at Washington on July 3.

One day after being optioned to Triple-A Iowa, righthander Kevin Hart was recalled Tuesday to make his first career start in this contest for the Cubs.

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Although Philadelphia has lost Hamels' last three outings, the Phillies' ace is 4-0 with a 3.21 ERA in his last four starts in Atlanta.

Philadelphia had its nine-game winning streak in Atlanta snapped on Tuesday, falling 5-4 in 10 innings.

Atlanta gives the ball to Jair Jurrjens as it goes for its third consecutive victory and first series win at home against the Phillies since taking two of three from Sept. 3-5, 2007. The Braves are 5-2 against the Phillies in 2009.

Jurrjens is 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA in five career starts against Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, a major league-best 26-13 on the road, is 3-4 on its nine-game trip.

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The righthander is 5-0 with an 0.45 ERA in his last six starts against Atlanta, holding the Braves without a run in five of those outings.

The Red Sox still hold a four-game lead in the AL East after winning two out of three against the Nationals. They've won 16 of 22 overall, losing back-to-back games just once over that span.

They also took two of three from the Braves at Fenway Park last weekend, improving to 10-3 in their last 13 against Atlanta.

Jair Jurrjens will get the start for Atlanta and will try to pick up a staff that allowed a total of 19 runs in the last two games against the Yankees.

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Chien-Ming Wang earned another start for New York despite losing 3-2 to Washington on Wednesday. He allowed three runs over five innings after failing to last past the fourth inning in four of his first five starts.

Tommy Hanson, on the other hand, has gotten better with each outing  for the Braves and allowed three hits and four walks in six innings Thursday in a 7-0 win at Cincinnati.

This will also be the first game in Atlanta for Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira since he was traded by the Braves to the Los Angeles Angels on July 29.

New York is 10-9 all-time against Atlanta in the regular season, including 4-1 at Turner Field.

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Chicago, which last won five in a row since May 10-16, has played well in Atlanta recently, going 8-4 in its last 12 games at Turner Field. The teams split two games June 2 and 3 before the finale of their series was postponed.

The Braves return home after a 3-6 road trip. Overall, they have lost eight of 11 after dropping two of three over the weekend at Boston.

The Braves will hope to be more productive against Ryan Dempster, who is winless in his last three starts. Dempster is 2-10 with a 5.31 ERA against the Braves.

Javier Vazquez has also struggled without much support from his team's offense. Vazquez is 3-4 with a 5.17 ERA against the Cubs.

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With John Smoltz set to come off the disabled list and join the rotation next week, there's pressure on Matsuzaka to show signs of progress.

Kawakami's spot is more secure, as the righthander has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last eight starts.

Kawakami will be trying to pitch the Braves to a second straight victory after the team snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Cincinnati 7-0 on Thursday.

Matsuzaka allowed three runs without a walk in eight innings of a 13-3 victory in his only start against the Braves in 2007.

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Atlanta has scored five runs in Vazquez's last four starts, which were all losses.

The righthander tied a season high with 12 strikeouts and walked none for the second straight start, but Atlanta lost 3-1 to Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Vazquez leads the NL with 105 strikeouts and has won his last three outings against the Reds.

The Reds give the ball to Micah Owings as they go for their seventh win in nine home games.

The Reds have lost five of Owings' last six outings, but he is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in three career starts versus Atlanta.

Owings is also batting .257 with a homer and four RBIs.

The Braves enter this contest listed as -145 favorites.

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