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For the first time in nearly six years,
Tom Glavine
will be back in a Braves uniform when the
New York Mets
come to Atlanta.
Glavine will be making his first start against his former team since rejoining the Braves as the squads open their four-game
series with a day-night doubleheader at Turner Field on Tuesday.
Glavine (1-1, 4.41 ERA) spent 16 seasons with the Braves (22-21), but spent the last five with the Mets (22-19). He went 61-56
with a 3.97 ERA in 164 starts for New York before signing a one-year, $8 million deal with Atlanta in November.
"I'm just trying to treat it like any other game, to be honest with you," Glavine told the Braves' official Web site of facing
his former team. "I think there's the tendency to make more out of it than it probably is, like I did at times when I came
back here and pitched against the Braves."
Glavine, who will start the opener, earned his first win for the Braves since Sept. 19, 2002 his last time out, giving up
four runs in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-6 victory in Philadelphia on Wednesday. It was career win No. 304 for the 42-year-old lefty,
who took a one-hitter into the sixth inning.
"It feels good. It's nice to get back on the board and feel like I'm contributing," he said.
Glavine is 16-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 35 career starts against the Mets. However, he has not pitched against them since Sept.
28, 2002, when he gave up one run in two innings of the Braves' 5-2 win at Shea Stadium as he prepared for the postseason.
The Braves kicked off a season-long 11-game homestand by winning two of three against Oakland over the weekend. Atlanta won
5-2 on Sunday, improving to an NL-best 16-5 at home.
That success, however, has been all but negated by their major league-worst 6-16 road record. They won two games against the
Mets at home April 5-6, but dropped two of three in New York April 25-27.
The Mets are coming off a rain-shortened, two-game road sweep of the Yankees.
Jose Reyes
homered in both games for the Mets, who bounced back after dropping three of four at home to last-place Washington.
"We can't be satisfied with this,"
David Wright
, who was 5-for-10 against the Yankees, told his team's official site. "We can't look at what we did here in two games like
it's a big run. We played with excitement and intensity tonight. ... Now, we have to bring that excitement and intensity to
Atlanta with us and keep pushing."
New York's
John Maine
(5-2, 2.81) will try to win his career-best fifth straight start in the first game. He gave up two runs - one earned - and
two hits in six innings of Tuesday's 6-3 win over Washington for his third career four-start winning streak.
Maine, who took a shutout into the ninth in his previous start at Dodger Stadium, has not allowed more than two runs in his
last seven starts since giving up four in four innings in his season debut in Atlanta on April 5.
"He's throwing the heck out of the ball," manager
Willie Randolph
said. "Becoming very reliable for us. He's in a nice groove right now."
Maine is 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA in five career starts against the Braves. He gave up two runs and three hits in five innings
of a 4-3 home win in his last start against them on April 26.
In the night game,
Claudio Vargas
(0-1, 2.84) will make his second start for New York since he was called up from Triple-A New Orleans. He was a tough-luck
loser in his season debut on Wednesday, allowing two runs in 6 1-3 innings of a 5-3 defeat to Washington.
Vargas is 4-1 with a 4.47 ERA in 14 career appearances against the Braves - including 4-0 with a 3.18 ERA in six starts.
The Braves will give
Jorge Campillo
(0-0, 1.27) his second career start and first since Aug. 2, 2005 in the night game. Campillo, then with Seattle, got just
four outs in that start before leaving with an injured right elbow that led to season-ending
Tommy John
surgery.
Campillo made a total of six relief outings for the Mariners in 2006 and 2007, but has pitched effectively in 13 appearances
out of the bullpen for the Braves this season. He threw two scoreless innings in his first appearance against the Mets on
April 26 at Shea Stadium.
"He's got a great curveball and a great changeup and he can zip his fastball in there a little bit," manager
Bobby Cox
said. "He's earned it."
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