Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET, the Atlanta Braves (74-69) and Washington Nationals (80-61) take the field at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. for the opening contest of a three-game set. 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 its nine-game road trip after dropping two of three to the Miami Marlins over the weekend while Washington continues a six-game homestand after losing two out of three to the Philadelphia Phillies this weekend.
The Nationals enter Monday atop the National League East with a seven-game lead over their opponents while the Braves are a half-game out of the second wild-card spot, which is currently held by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Mike Minor (6-9, 4.65 ERA) takes the ball for Atlanta while Washington responds with Doug Fister, who is 12-6 with a 2.66 ERA thus far this season.
Minor has had five straight quality starts and will hope for some run support after the Braves lost 3-0 to the Phillies in an outing where he allowed three runs in 7.1 innings last week.
"I feel like this has been the year for us letting down our pitching staff," third baseman Chris Johnson, who is hitting .266 with nine homers and 55 RBI, said via MLB.com. "It feels like every time our pitchers give a quality start, they're leaving with a loss. It stinks as an offense. For me, it's hard to look [the pitchers] in the face."
Fister has been struggling as of late, but he's hopeful for a bounce-back effort tonight after a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last time out.
"The ball didn't bounce our way tonight," Fister told MLB.com afterward. "There were things that happened. I gave up a few hits. I have to be better. I have to be better picking up my teammates. It's unacceptable for me. That's what teams do. They pick one another up. I didn't do that."
Fister faces an Atlanta lineup that is flanked by outfielder Justin Upton and first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Upton is tied for third in the NL with 91 RBI and is in sole possession of fourth place with 26 homers while he is fifth in the league with a .870 OPS. Freeman, meanwhile, is third in the NL in doubles (38) and total bases (257), and fourth in runs (89) and on-base percentage (.386) all while leading the team with a .289 batting average.
Washington responds with a lineup that has been paced by second baseman Anthony Rendon and outfielder Denard Span. Rendon is tied for the NL lead with 101 runs and is tied for third with 257 total bases while Span is second in the league with 165 hits and leads the Nationals with a .301 batting average.
Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche leads the team with 23 homers while shortstop Ian Desmond paces the team with 81 RBI.
Two NL East rivals clash as the Nationals look to expand their division lead and the Braves look to keep pace in the wild-card race when these two teams take the field this afternoon at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
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