Braves' opponent: Washington Nationals
Keep an eye on: The Nationals dugout. That's where the fireworks happened Sunday in D.C. when closer Jonathan Papelbon went after teammate Bryce Harper, at one point grabbing him by the throat, after Papelbon had words for Harper not hustling up the first base line after he flew out. Papelbon was allowed to enter the game after the altercation in the eighth on Sunday – and gave up five runs to the Phillies - but on Monday the Nationals announced the club was suspending him for four games. The club also said Papelbon would drop his appeal of his three-game suspension by MLB for plunking Manny Machado, effectively ending the 2015 for Papelbon.
Who's hot: Ian Desmond had a three-hit game Sunday against the Phillies to make him 8-for-23 (.348) in his previous six games.
Who's not: Outside of his three-hit game Saturday against the Phillies, Harper, the leading NL MVP candidate, was 0-for-14 in the five games before and after that, entering Monday's game against Cincinnati.
Braves connection: Dan Uggla was 0-for-6 with two walks in minimal action in September for the Nationals but got a start Monday at second base in the makeup game against Cincinnati as the eliminated Nationals are resting some regulars. Yunel Escobar was one of those regulars getting rest. Escobar was 0-for-13 over his previous three games but still hitting .365 (35-for-96) for the month of September.
In the news: Papelbon and Harper have been dominating the headlines for the past two days. And one thing to note from the fall-out was that manager Matt Williams said he didn't realize the extent of their altercation until seeing video of it later or else he would not have put Papelbon in the game in the eighth. (Harper was taken out.) But keep in mind, the Nationals' frustration stemmed from being eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday. They were picked by many to win the division.
