Braves look to rebound against rival Nats
Catcher A.J. Pierzynski joined the Braves this season so he has played no part in the club’s recent rivalry with the Nationals, their NL East nemesis.
Still, Pierzynski sounded a defiant tone when discussing the Braves’ chances against the Nationals in the series that started Monday at Turner Field.
“The Nationals are a good team,” Pierzynski said. “Everybody was picking them. They were giving them the trophy before the season started. It’s a tough team but we can play with anybody. We’ve proven that early in the year.”
The Braves returned home after losing six of nine games during their first extended road trip of the season. The Mets swept them while setting a franchise record for consecutive victories and the Braves lost two of three at the Phillies.
The Nationals also staggered into the series with five losses in a row after the Marlins swept them.
“They are a lot better than what they are playing,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “You can’t take them lightly.”
The Nationals clinched the division with a victory at Turner Field last September and are expected to challenge for another title. The Braves won the division in 2013 after the Nationals had done so in 2012.
The Braves are rebuilding after trading away key players during the off season. That took some shine off their rivalry with the Nationals, though Freeman said that angle may have been overblown to begin with.
“I think the media has put a little bit more emphasis on that,” Freeman said. “It’s just been us going back and forth with the division the last few years. It’s always two good teams battling back and forth. As a player’s perspective in the clubhouse, we don’t put too emphasis on it. We’ve just got to go out there and play baseball.”
The Braves are trying to recapture the good vibes they had created with their 6-3 start. Since then they’ve been undone by inconsistency in all areas: starting pitching, offense, relief pitching and defense.
“The biggest thing for us not to beat ourselves,” Pierzynski said. “Limit the walks, limit the defensive mistakes and limit the base-running mistakes and if we do that we’ll be (fine). We still think we have a good team. We still think we have a team that can compete and hopefully we can show that the rest of the year.”
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