Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET, the Atlanta Braves (37-35) and Washington Nationals (37-34) continue a pivotal four-game set live from Nationals Park in Washington. The game can be live streamed for free here. Atlanta fans can hear all of the action on WCNN 680 while Washington fans can do the same on WFED 1500.
Atlanta continues a 10-game road trip while Washington continues a six-game homestand its currently 2-1 on. The Braves blanked the Nationals 3-0 in the opening game of this set on Thursday and enter this contest a half-game back from the Nats in the National League East.
Mike Minor (2-4, 4.42 ERA) mans the mound for Atlanta while Washington counters with Stephen Strasburg, who is 6-5 with a 3.06 ERA.
Minor has had trouble getting deep into games this season and the southpaw has also allowed nine homers in nine starts thus far this season, including two solo shots against the Los Angeles Angels last time out. It marked the third time he gave up two homers in a start this season.
"I guess I was lucky enough to hang in there through five with just three runs, two solo shots," Minor said via MLB.com.
Strasburg is coming off of a start where he allowed three earned runs in 6.2 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. Strasburg leads the NL with 113 strikeouts coming into the game as the Nationals look to bounce back from being dominated by Braves pitching on Thursday.
"It was a good performance by their pitching tonight. We take it one day at a time," Nationals manager Matt Williams said Thursday night per MLB.com. "They got us tonight and we are going to [play them] again tomorrow. We are going to be prepared to play."
Atlanta catcher Evan Gattis has an 18-game hitting streak going, the longest such mark by a catcher in Braves history and the longest active streak in the majors. Gattis leads the team with a .296 average and is tied for third in the NL with 16 homers while adding a team-best 38 RBI.
Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has faced Minor 27 times and is hitting .250 (5-for-20) with five walks and seven strikeouts off of him in his career. First baseman Adam LaRoche is fourth in the NL with a .413 on-base percentage and is hitting a team-best .297 with eight homers and 35 RBI.
Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond leads the team with 13 homers and 44 RBI.
A huge NL East series continues when the Braves and Nationals clash at Nationals Park tonight in Washington, D.C.
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