The Atlanta Braves will face the Washington Nationals at the end of the week for their first true series against a team expected to contend. Find out pitching matchups and predictions for these games coming up. Can the Braves beat the Nationals in their first meeting this year?
There's no doubt the the Braves are in Cloud 9. So far in the early stages of the year, they've been able to win regardless of who's on the field. Freddie Freeman is injured, no problem, Evan Gattis has taken over the cleanup spot and yesterday, he whacked a home run over the center field wall. Jason Heyward wasn't hitting in the two-hole on Tuesday, Andrelton Simmons subs his spot, gets two singles and scores two runs in the game.
So far, the Braves have been picking each other up and beating the opposition. Though every major league team deserves respect, the Braves have been able to get away with things early on against teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins. The pitching has gotten away with mistakes and the hitting hasn't had to produce much offense in order to get these wins.
However, the Nationals are no slouches. They are the defending N.L. East champs and have a nice group of players like Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and Jayson Werth. Their lineup is scary top to bottom. The Braves are getting things done, but without Freeman and with a struggling Heyward, the offensive scale has to tip in favor of the Nationals for this weekend's upcoming matchup.
Here are the pitching matchups as the series is set to begin on Friday as the Braves will have a day off on Thursday.
Friday, Apr. 12- Julio Teheran vs. Ross Detwiler
Saturday, Apr. 13- Tim Hudson vs. Stephen Strasburg
Sunday, Apr. 14- Paul Maholm vs. Gio Gonzalez
The Braves don't know what they'll get from Teheran after a rocky first start against the Cubs, but Hudson seemed to have figured things out after a bad first start against the Phillies. His start wasn't terrible, but his second start was simply way better. Maholm has been unhittable, but Gonzalez was able to stifle the Braves in his first season in the National League in 2012.
Follow Sports World Report as we will bring updates from this upcoming weekend matchup between the top two favorite teams in the N.L. East.
