Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals Series Preview
by moorebraves on Aug 1, 2011 11:01 AM EDT
in Series Previews & Recaps
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Fresh off of a series win against one NL East opponent, the Braves hit the road to take on another. Michael Bourn will have to wait a while to get settled in Atlanta, as the three-game set against the Nationals will start a nine-game road trip for the Braves.
The Nationals aren't exactly playing great baseball right now, but regardless of record, the Braves sure can't sleep on Washington. Since 2008, the Braves are 29-34 against the Nats, though they are 5-4 in this season's series. Washington just ended a six game losing streak on Sunday, but the Braves will hopefully start at least another three-game streak for the last-place Nationals, who now sit at 51-56.
The Nationals were active prior to the trade deadline, building for the future by adding prospects. They traded ex-Brave Jason Marquis to the Diamondbacks who are looking to stay in the NL West race, getting middle-infield prospect Zach Walters in return. They also sent Jerry Hairston Jr. to the Brew Crew for outfielder Erik Komatsu. I can't pretend to know a thing about these prospects, but the Expos of old clearly have plans to be competitive in the NL East with homegrown talent in the coming years.
For the time being, the Braves task at hand did in fact become easier with the trades the Nationals made. Jason Marquis was pitching reasonably well this season and neither prospect will be on Washington's Major League roster anytime soon. Drew Storen has done nicely in the closer role for the Nationals, so hopefully the Braves don't necessitate any appearances from him. The Washington bats, meanwhile, aren't great this year. Their .236 average is good for fifteenth in the NL this season.
Monday 7:05 PM: The Braves send JJ to the mound Monday night to face off against Livan Hernandez, who may or may not be a drug-money-launderer. Hernandez has been around forever, having a mediocre (at best) sixteenth season. His ERA is currently at a bloated 4.19 figure and has lost ten games. Jair had a Jurrjens-like outing in his last start against Pittsburgh, going seven strong innings and allowing just one run. Hopefully he can keep the momentum.
Tuesday 7:05 PM: Derek Lowe will take on John Lannan in game two. This will likely be the best odds for the Nationals in the series. Lannan is the only lefty that the Braves will face during the series and will likely give the Nats their best chance for a win over the series. He has a 7-7 record and a 3.63 ERA on the season.
Wednesday 1:05 PM: In the finale, we will get to see Chien-Ming Wang for the first time in a long time. Wang didn't have a great outing in his first start since '09. He gave up six runs in four innings on his way to a loss on Friday. Brandon Beachy will head to the mound for the Braves, who also had a great bounce back performance last time out, going seven and a third shut out innings.
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Any series with the Nationals
= All out, nail scraping, blown saves, bleeding knuckles, hair pulling, agonizing war.
Anyone who treats this series with any less importance because it’s the Nationals should be slapped upside the head.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
I don't think
there’s an unimportant series left.
by michaeldlee1480 on Aug 1, 2011 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions
those teams are the worst...
remember San Diego…
the exponent in the equation is a matter of preference and "fit" it can vary depending on what the user believes to yield the curve that best predicts a team’s ability to win games.
by Ivan the Great on May 20, 2011 12:31 PM VET
I don’t care if they’re “cupcake”, it’d still be an important series. Every win we get is just one step closer to the playoffs.
Twitter: @TAlmeyda
AMEN. They always rise up to the challenge of playing the Braves.
Added to the mix: 6-game losing streak. Scary stuff.
They will be more determined to keep us from being the ones to keep it going.
We gotta stay focused now more than ever to beat the teams we should beat.
~ "The NL - where our pitchers do more than just play with their balls." ~
Beat the Nats!!!!!
D-backs have the Giants and Phillies are in Colorado.
LET’S WIN, DAMMIT
Twitter: @TAlmeyda
Colorado....
just another team who will kneel before the mighty death machine….
the exponent in the equation is a matter of preference and "fit" it can vary depending on what the user believes to yield the curve that best predicts a team’s ability to win games.
by Ivan the Great on May 20, 2011 12:31 PM VET
Looking forward to seeing Bourn, but looking forward more to hearing BMac is getting close to coming back. If we ever get this team healthy and hitting we could bury the WC competition. As is, every series is going to be pretty tough. And everybody knows the Nats exist to punk the Braves.
"Bunting's my favorite." Fredi G
Can’t wait to see Bourn batting leadoff for the Bravos tonight…
Also, here’s hoping Proctor is DFA’d sooner rather than later
Morton hit Heyward with an offspeed pitch. Early indication is that the baseball survived the impact.
UGH
ajcbraves
Absolutely not. No reason for that to happen. RT @jamere8n: @ajcbraves scott proctor best bet to be waived?
apparenty there were some twitter issues
ajcbraves
I was NOT saying that about #Braves’ Proctor. Like the guy and all, but ERA’s been around 7. Yes, there’s reason for him to hit waivers.
Chien-Ming Wang
it’s been 2 years, but Taiwan still supports him. Does not rooting for him in a start versus the Braves make me unpatriotic?
Root for a no-decision
And for Sean Burnett to give it up to the Braves for the L instead
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
i used to yell swear words in korean whenever chan-ho park was pitching at the ted. i swear a few times he looked around like, ‘who the hell is that?’
by michaeldlee1480 on Aug 1, 2011 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
He’s not representing his country so let me be the one to grant you permission and forgiveness. If he’s pitching against the Braves, his jersey might as well say Philly on it…
by TBuzz on Aug 1, 2011 11:39 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I’m in the same boat as you, but I’m all for a Braves win. Maybe a bad quality start for Wang (3 runs in 6 innings) and have Beachy shutting the Nats down? It is a lot easier to root for Wang now that he is no longer a Yankee (it was rather annoying to see many casual MLB fans in Taiwan becoming Yankees fans).
by LEastCoastBears on Aug 1, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Season begins today.
Let’s go out there and win this series and try our hardest to sweep these guys.
It was a particularly small egg...thats why I asked.
by thenightstallion on Aug 1, 2011 11:25 AM EDT reply actions
FWIW, the Nats snapped their losing streak on Saturday, not Sunday
Their win yesterday gave them the series against the Mets.
Once Wang got past his first-inning-in-two-years jitters (he walked Reyes on four pitches to start the game, and he was overthrowing his sinker – with predictable results) he actually pitched OK; his sinker was consistently 90-91 and topped out at 93. It will be interesting to see how he does in his next couple of starts. Right now, though, he’s a better story than he is a baseball player.
Got my ticket to Wednesday's Game
Took the day off of work for it. May swing by Nats Park this evening and get a cheap seat. Anyone else in DC heading over this week?
If you don't like Georgetown, then you must also hate Christmas morning. - Mike Freeman
Just grabbed cheap tix off of StubHub for tonight.
Will probably get some Shake Shack or Blue Smoke and hang out by the scoreboard bar. Quickest beer line in Nats Park…
Here ya go!
http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/7/31/2307910/braves-nationals-meet-up
Go USA, Braves, BU Terriers, Irish, Caps, Skins, NU Cats, Wizards, DC United, Washington Freedom
BU Hockey: National Champions 1971, 1972, 1978, 1995, 2009
Braves need a minimum 5-4 trip. 6-3 would be groovy. Didn’t Houston just come off a long trip? Hope Bourn doesn’t get too lagged. Hopefully there will be some “pennant-chase adrenaline” for him.
by MississippiBrave on Aug 1, 2011 2:10 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
DOB
#Braves lineup: 1. Bourn CF, 2. Prado 3B, 3. Freeman 1B, 4. Uggla 2B, 5. Heyward RF, 6. Ross C, 7. Gonzalez SS, 8. Jurrjens P 9 Constanza LF
Kinebrink on the DL to make room for Bourn. Crapola.
"Baseball is the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated."
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