Game 52: Nats at Braves
Richard Lovelady will open for Miles Mikolas as the Nationals open a weekend series against the NL East leaders in rainy Atlanta
ATLANTA – Hello from Truist Park, located right in the heart of Unincorporated Atlanta. The Braves have been playing exceptionally well this season and enter this weekend’s series with an NL-best 35-16 record and MLB-best +104 run differential that’s almost hard to believe. That’s basically the equivalent of winning every single game by two runs.
Atlanta took care of the Nationals in last month’s series in D.C., winning three of four by a combined score of 28-23. One of those games was a win for right-hander Bryce Elder, who allowed four runs (three earned) over 6 2/3 innings and will start tonight’s series opener against a Nats lineup that includes James Wood as DH and Daylen Lile in left field, with Dylan Crews in right.
It’s Miles Mikolas’ start day, but Blake Butera once again will go with an opener before turning to the veteran right-hander. And with PJ Poulin sent down to Rochester a couple days ago, that leaves Richard Lovelady as the choice to pitch at least the first inning (and possibly more, depending on how things go for him).
As was the case the last few days in D.C., there’s a threat of rain here. Actually, it’s been raining hard for the last hour or so, and the tarp is covering the infield as we speak. But there may be a proverbial “window” that allows the game to begin close to on-time, so as always check back for updates ...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Chance of storms, 75 degrees, wind 8 mph left to right
NATIONALS
DH James Wood
1B Luis Garcia Jr.
3B Curtis Mead
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
LF Daylen Lile
CF Jacob Young
C Drew Millas
2B Nasim Nuñez
LHP Richard Lovelady
BRAVES
RF Ronald Acuña Jr.
LF Mauricio Dubón
1B Matt Olson
2B Ozzie Albies
CF Michael Harris II
3B Austin Riley
DH Dominic Smith
SS Ha-Seong Kim
C Sandy León
RHP Bryce Elder
Weather update: They've removed the tarp and they're prepping the infield, but there's still 90 minutes til first pitch, so who knows if it will stay dry until then.
Injury updates:
* Cole Henry threw 1.1 IP for Rochester on Wed, will pitch there again this weekend
* DJ Herz threw live BP (22 pitches), Trevor Williams threw a bullpen (30 pitches) Wed in West Palm Beach
* Max Kranick threw a bullpen today
* Josiah Gray played catch today
Well, that's why the Nats probably should've scored more than one run off Elder when they had the chance earlier ...