Atlanta @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 4, 2014 ) Atlanta 2, Washington 1
The Washington Nationals couldn’t catch much of a break against the Atlanta Braves last season and are off to a bad start in that regard in 2014. The Nationals, who continue their three-game set versus the Braves on Saturday, dropped their home opener in part when Ian Desmond’s potential inside-the-park homer was ruled a double after a replay challenge by Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. Desmond was picked off moments later, one of a few baserunning gaffes committed by Washington in a 2-1 loss.
It was par for the course for the Nationals recently against their National League East rivals, who have defeated Washington 18 of the last 24 times they have met. Despite having two starting pitchers ruled out for the season due to Tommy John surgery and two more on the disabled list, the Braves took advantage of their third straight strong effort from a member of their rotation when David Hale fired five scoreless frames in a no-decision on Friday. Hale’s performance lowered the starters’ ERA through four games to 1.09.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports South (Atlanta), MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Julio Teheran (0-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (0-0, 6.00)
Teheran scattered seven hits over six frames in Monday’s Opening Day loss to Milwaukee, giving up his only two runs during a fourth inning in which he threw a ball to the first four batters he faced. “My pitches didn’t work like they usually work. I was battling the whole game; I just had the one bad inning where I couldn’t get out of trouble,” the 23-year-old told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution following the game. Teheran posted a 2.25 ERA in the final four starts he made against the Nationals in 2013.
After getting tagged for four runs over his first two innings, Strasburg recovered to toss four scoreless frames in a no-decision on Opening Day against the New York Mets and finished with 10 strikeouts. “(The Mets) came out swinging and didn’t really let me settle in. I said: ‘The heck with it. I’m just going to go out there and throw everything I’ve got’,” the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft told CSN Washington. Strasburg went 0-1 despite a 2.86 ERA in five starts against the Braves last year.
WALK-OFFS
1. Ten of the last 17 games in this series have been decided by one run; Atlanta is 7-3 in those contests.
2. The Braves’ rotation has not allowed a run since Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez led off Tuesday’s game with a homer – a span of 18 2/3 innings.
3. Nationals CF Denard Span, who went hitless in the series opener after going 5-for-11 in Washington’s three-game sweep of the Mets, is 7-for-15 with two triples in his career against Teheran.
PREDICTION: Nationals 3, Braves 2