Braves seek fifth straight victory tonight against Nationals

Pitcher A: 143 IP, 74 K, 45 BB, 55% GB rate
Pitcher B: 153 1/3 IP, 65 K, 48 BB, 52% GB rate

Any guesses as to which two pitchers own these miserable and disturbingly similar stat lines?

3...

2...

1...

Pencils down, class. Player B is John Lannan, of whom the Braves made quick work in last night's 8-1 rout. Player A, unfortunately, is tonight's starter for the Braves, Derek Lowe. Frank Wren has to be sweating that 4 year, $60 million contract right about now. But unlike the hapless John Lannan, Lowe has a track record of being better than his year-to-date perfomance, so there's reason to hope for a turnaround.

Lowe's counterpart in tonight's contest, Craig Stammen, inspires little more confidence (83 1/3 IP, 37 K, 16 BB, 49% GB rate). As a consequence, the two struggling righties could find themselves in the midst of a slugfest before all is said and done.