Series preview: at Nationals
When (TV): 7:05 p.m. (SPSO) Monday – Wednesday.
Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5
Probable starting pitchers:
Monday: Braves LH Mike Minor (11-5, 2.75) vs. RH Stephen Strasburg (5-9, 3.04)
Tuesday: Braves RH Julio Teheran (8-5, 3.02) vs. LH Gio Gonzalez (7-4, 3.57)
Wednesday: Braves RH Kris Medlen (8-10, 3.85) vs. RH Jordan Zimmermann (13-6, 3.06)
About the Braves:
Batting: Chris Johnson's 11-game hitting streak, which included eight straight multi-hit games to tie a franchise record held by Hank Aaron, ended Saturday. Johnson hit .545 (18-for-33) in those eight games. Freddie Freeman has seven RBI in seven games against the Nationals this season, while hitting .333 (9-for-27) with a double and a home run. Dan Uggla is 11-for-24 (.458) with two doubles and two home runs against Strasburg, while Jason Heyward is 7-for-17 (.467) with one double off him.
Pitching: These pitching match-ups line up like these two teams would hand pick in a playoff series. Minor has allowed only one earned run in 14 innings over his past two starts – a Yadier Molina solo home run – in wins over the Cardinals and Rockies, while walking none, striking out 11 and allowing only six hits. After losing three of his first four career starts against the Nationals, the Braves have won each of his past two. Minor gave up one runs in six innings to win the last time he faced Washington on Sept. 16.
Miscellaneous: The Braves, who entered Sunday night's game with a 12-game lead in the NL East, are 7-3 against the Nationals this season, including a three-game sweep on their only other trip to Nationals Park this season, April 12-14. Braves pitchers have a 1.76 ERA in 10 games against the Nationals this season. Nine different Braves batters have totaled 11 home runs in the season series, including two each from Andrelton Simmons and Ramiro Pena (out following shoulder surgery).
About the Nationals:
Batting: The Nationals rank 14th out of 15 NL teams in runs scored (408), ahead of only Miami (354). They scored zero or one run in seven losses during a 6-14 stretch to finish out the month of July. Jayson Werth went 7-for-10 with one double and two runs in the weekend Milwaukee series but got hit by a Kyle Lohse pitch Sunday and bruised his right hand. X-rays were negative. Adam LaRoche homered in each of the past two games to give him 15 on the season.
Pitching: The Nationals have lost each of Strasburg's past four starts, including his last time out in Detroit when he gave up five runs in seven innings including an Alex Avila grand slam. He also gave up a career-high seven runs in two innings of a July 12 loss to the Marlins. Strasburg is 3-4 with a 3.55 ERA in 10 starts against the Braves. He's 0-1 despite a 1.93 ERA in three starts against the Braves this year. He came out after two innings in May 31 because of a strained back muscle which forced him to the DL.
Miscellaneous: After getting blown out in back-to-back losses to the Tigers by a combined score of 16-2, the Nationals took two of three against Milwaukee. The Nationals had gone 3-12 in and around the all-Star break. Reliever Ross Ohlendorf was placed on the DL Sunday with shoulder inflammation.
- Carroll Rogers
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