From our epic coverage of games one and two:
Tim Hudson (17-9, 2.83 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 5.32 Sept. ERA) vs. Jonathan Sanchez (13-9, 3.07 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 1.01 Sept. ERA)
Obviously, Hudson struggled down the stretch. At one point this season, he was a legitimate Cy Young contender, but his struggles in September pushed him out of the race. Hudson had begun to regress toward the mean (he has a very low BABIP and abnormally high GB%) up until his last two starts. Despite giving up four runs on the season’s final day, he allowed just two hits. In his previous outing, he pushed through six solid innings and lead the Braves to a 3-2 victory over the Marlins.
Sanchez has been dominant as of late. His 1.01 September ERA is even better than Lowe’s. He still walked 19 in 35.2 innings, seven of which came in one outing, but he was able to hone in his strikeout pitch and keep runners on base. The Braves are a very patient team as they had the highest OBP in the N.L., so the game plan against Sanchez is obvious, don’t let him beat you with bad pitches.
Hudson will look to keep the ball down and out of the zone, just as Lowe will, and the overly-aggressive Giant lineup should hit plenty of grounders against both sinker-ballers.