Game 23: Braves at Nats

An Atlanta club off to a dominant start comes to town for a four-game series

The NL East was supposed to be a bear of a division entering this season. You had the three traditional powerhouses in the Braves, Mets and Phillies. You had a Marlins team that actually finished in third place last year. And you had a Nationals team trying to get back into the conversation. Well, three weeks in, only one team from the division owns a winning record: Atlanta, which comes to town at 15-7 with a 5-game lead over the two teams tied for second place: Washington and Miami. Just as we all expected, right?

The Braves are winning with ease, with an MLB-best plus-54 run differential. They’ve scored the most runs in the NL (one more than the Nats) while giving up the fewest. That’s the mark of a very good team, and it’s all the more impressive considering how many injuries they’ve sustained.

All of this is to say the Nationals have their work cut out for them the next four days. They’ll need not only to keep scoring runs at the rate they have through the season’s first 22 games, but they’ll need to get better pitching to have any shot. So the spotlight tonight is on Jake Irvin.

Irvin is coming off a positive start in Pittsburgh. After dealing with his traditional first-inning struggles (two runs on three hits, though there wasn’t any loud contact), he proceeded to toss four scoreless innings and maintain a reasonable pitch count. The Nationals would love to be in a position to extend him into at least the sixth inning tonight, even though the bullpen should be rested and refreshed after Andrew Alvarez ate up 4 1/3 innings Sunday to finish a surprising shutout win.

Braves starter Bryce Elder has been outstanding through his first starts, sporting a league-best 0.77 ERA along with a 1.029 WHIP. The good news: Several Nationals hitters have good numbers against him (Luis García Jr.: 1.227 OPS in 12 at-bats, James Wood: 1.166 OPS in six at-bats, CJ Abrams: .905 OPS in 15 at-bats).

The Nationals have another new arm in their bullpen tonight: Julian Fernandez. The 30-year-old right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take the spot that opened up when Alvarez was sent down Sunday night. Fernandez becomes the 21st different pitcher on the Nats’ staff already this season.

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Mostly clear, 53 degrees, wind 15 mph left to right

BRAVES
RF Ronald Acuña Jr.
C Drake Baldwin
1B Matt Olson
3B Austin Riley
2B Ozzie Albies
CF Michael Harris II
DH Dominic Smith
SS Jorge Mateo
LF Mike Yastrzemski

RHP Bryce Elder

NATIONALS
RF James Wood
1B Luis García Jr.
3B Brady House
SS CJ Abrams
LF Daylen Lile
CF Jacob Young
DH José Tena
C Drew Millas
2B Nasim Nuñez

RHP Jake Irvin