(My Sportsbook) - Two teams languishing through the season's initial stretch get together tonight at Turner Field in the first of a three-game weekend series.

The Houston Astros, participants in the World Series as recently as 2005, find themselves last in the six-team National League Central through 22 games, with just nine wins.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves, who went more than a decade without missing the playoffs until 2006, are a game under .500 at 10-11 in the highly competitive NL East.

Veteran southpaw Mike Hampton gets the call for the Astros for the fifth time this season and seeks his first decision since start No. 2 on April 15.

The 36-year-old opened with a loss at St. Louis and followed with a win at Pittsburgh, but has since come up empty twice, allowing 16 hits and seven runs in 12 1/3 innings while Houston dropped games to Cincinnati and Milwaukee.

Hampton, who established himself in the majors while with the Astros from 1994-1999, was a member of the Braves between 2003 and 2008 but made just 75 appearances and did not play at all in 2006 and 2007 due to injury.

He returned to Houston as a free agent in December, signing a one-year deal worth $2 million.

Hampton hasn't pitched against the Braves since 2002, when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies and got a no-decision in one start while allowing six hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

For Atlanta, big-ticket free agent signee Derek Lowe will try to continue a strong early season with his new team.

Lowe, who'll earn $15 million in the first year of his four-year deal, was a winner in an Opening Day outing at Philadelphia before going three starts without a win between April 10 and 20.

He moved to 2-1 on April 25 at Cincinnati, tossing seven innings and allowing four hits and two runs in a 10-2 Braves win.

The 35-year-old was ripped in one losing matchup with the Astros last season while with the Los Angeles Dodgers, surrendering eight hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

On Wednesday in Cincinnati, Houston had its three-game winning streak stopped, as Edinson Volquez was brilliant, pitching eight shutout innings of one-hit ball in Cincinnati's 3-0 win at Great American Ball Park.

Felipe Paulino (0-2) was the hard-luck loser. The young right-hander allowed two runs -- one earned -- over 5 2/3 innings, struck out three and walked a pair.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta on Wednesday, Albert Pujols went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored as the St. Louis Cardinals got by the Braves, 5-3, in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Omar Infante finished with three hits and an RBI for Atlanta, which has dropped three of its last four. Casey Kotchman and Jeff Francoeur each had a pair of hits and a run scored in defeat.

Javier Vazquez (2-2) suffered the loss despite going eight innings. He was touched for five runs on nine hits with a walk, but finished with eight strikeouts.

Houston has split its last 12 matchups with the Braves, but holds a slight 10-9 edge in the matchup since the start of the 2006 season.