Cox picks Lowe, Hanson and Hudson as starters

Derek Lowe, who won his last five starts of the regular season, will start for the Braves Thursday in Game 1 of the NL Division Series at San Francisco.

Manager Bobby Cox said Tuesday Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson will follow Lowe in the rotation.

Cox says Lowe or rookie Brandon Beachy would start if Game 4 is needed. Lowe would be pitching on three days' rest.

Cox says he will announce his roster Thursday.

Righthanders Jair Jurrjens (sore knee), and Takashi Saito (sore shoulder) are trying to show they are healthy enough to pitch. Jurrjens pitched in an Instructional League game in Florida and Saito threw in the bullpen.

Knock yourself out

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts thinks the headaches that forced him to miss the final six days of the season might have come from a self-inflicted blow to the head with his bat.

Roberts recalls knocking himself in the batting helmet after striking out in the ninth inning of a game at Tampa Bay on Sept. 27.

"In frustration, I whacked myself on the head with my bat. I had my helmet on. It's something I've done a million times," Roberts said. "I still can't tell you for sure if that was it. But that's the only thing that I can point to because that night and the next morning, I just didn't feel good."

Hudson, Liriano honoredPitchers Tim Hudson of the Braves and Francisco Liriano of the Twins have been voted comeback players of the year.

Hudson had elbow ligament-replacement surgery in 2008 and was limited to only seven starts last season. But the righthander went 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA this year to win the NL award and help Atlanta reach the postseason.

Liriano, 26, missed the entire 2007 season following elbow-ligament replacement surgery and was limited by injuries each of the previous two years. He then had a career-high 14 wins for Minnesota this season.

McCarver up for Frick

Tim McCarver, Rene Cardenas and Jacques Doucet are among the 10 nominees for the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The other nominees include Dizzy Dean, Tom Cheek, Graham McNamee, Bill King, Ned Martin, Eric Nadel and Dave Van Horne.- AP