The Atlanta Braves are currently on the verge of a sweep – but not a good one, an upsetting one! Wednesday, the Braves will play the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final game in the series and will attempt their first sweep of the Pirates tomorrow in 16 years. This three-game series sweep came in 1994.

One good thing for the Braves going into the finale is that they will have Derek Lowe back. He had discomfort in his elbow and missed his last start but he is currently 9-0 against Pirates for his career. Lowe has been out since August 29 without pitching. Believe it or not, Lowe has never been on the disabled list in his MLB career and at 37 years of age, he has never missed a start until now. The pain is coming from bone chips in his elbow. He’ll have to make a decision at the end of the 2010 MLB season, which is just around the corner, if he’ll have surgery to remove them or not.

Atlanta has been at the top of the pack – National League East - since the end of May but then lost to the Pirates on Tuesday with a final game score of 5-0 pushing them back half a game. The Braves have lost of five of six games against the Marlins, Mets, and now Pirates.

Why are the Braves struggling? One word – offense! In the past five of the last six games, they have only scored two runs or less. They need runs and they need runs now if they plan on bouncing back.

As for Pittsburgh, well, they came into this series having only won six of 26 games leaving 20 for a loss. They swept the Chicago Cubs earlier this year in early May and are hoping to sweep the Braves for a three-game series victory. They could in fact do it being just one win away from doing so unless the Braves pick up some game.

Zack Duke, start for the Pirates, has won two of his last three starts but only two of 11 prior to that. The LHP struggled in the last outing on May 28 against the Braves reaching his season-worst on allowed hits. We’ll see what he can do for the last game of this series against the Braves.

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