Derek Lowe makes his third straight Opening Day start overall for Atlanta. Last year, he surrendered five earned runs in six innings but got the win against the Cubs. Lowe was very up and down last year for the Braves, going 16-12 with a 4.00 ERA. But he came on late in the 2010 season and finished 5-0 with a 1.17 ERA in September. He worked 13 scoreless innings against the Nationals during this span. Making his final spring start Saturday against the Mets, Lowe allowed six runs (four earned) and seven hits in four innings. Lowe had allowed just four earned runs in the 19 1/3 innings he'd previously completed in Grapefruit League games.

The Nationals start Livan Hernandez (10-12, 3.66 ERA in 2010). He has started Opening Day eight times in his career, with four different franchises and five different teams. This likely will be his last one. There is one other active pitcher who will have started opening day nine times after Thursday and that is Philly’s Roy Halladay. Hernandez is 4-3 with a 4.29 ERA on Opening Day. He finished his spring with a 3.60 ERA in four starts, having allowed six earned runs in 15 innings on 17 hits, five walks and eight strikeouts. Washington finished 15-14 for its first winning spring since 2004, when it was the Montreal Expos.

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