5 things to know about the Braves on Thursday

Braves starter Lucas Sims pitched admirably in his return from the bullpen, but his reliever comrades imploded in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to the Nationals; a game the Braves led 2-1 through seven innings.

The latest happenings as veteran R.A. Dickey will hope to stop the bleeding tonight:

1. Arodys Vizcaino, who'd been brilliant since taking over the closer job, issued three consecutive walks to ignite the Nationals' big inning. Washington clinched the season series against Atlanta with the win.

2. Ozzie Albies left last night’s game in the eighth after being hit in the shin. Albies had been hit in the same spot twice recently, but said it’s only bruised. There will be further updates Thursday.

3. Kurt Suzuki homered on Wednesday, giving him a career-best 16 long balls. He’s on pace to homer every 15.63 at-bats, which vastly exceeds his previous top mark of 30.43 in his rookie season (2007).

4. Tyler Flowers could return to the lineup today. He was sidelined after being hit by a pitch on the hand.