The Nationals rebounded from a pair of losses to defeat Atlanta 8-2 Thursday. The Braves have totaled 14 runs in their other eight games against the Nats this season, scoring two or fewer runs in six of them.
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Lopez was more overpowering this time, striking out eight of 10 batters he faced during a stretch from the first inning through the third.
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (49) works in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. With his pitch count at 90 on a muggy evening in Georgia, Lopez was given a chance to bat for himself in the top of the seventh, and then pitch the bottom of the inning with his team clinging to a 3-2 lead.
Please, ye baseball gods, do not allow this game to spiral like last night’s, when the late innings were reduced to an atmosphere unlike nearly anything I’ve seen in my 22 years of covering major league baseball.
The Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves continue their series at Turner Field on Friday night. The 25-year-old allowed five runs in each of his first two July starts, but gave up only three in his final 16 innings of the month before landing on the disabled list. His last appearance came in a five-inning stay against the Phillies on July 30, when he ceded three runs. Braves relievers began the night with a 4.69 ERA, second-worst in the majors.
The start of the game was delayed 76 minutes because of rain before the Nationals quickly claimed the lead thanks to two unearned runs. What Teheran would do for that kind of run support…. An All-Star pitcher with a 2.81 ERA, and he’s not won a game at home with September less than two weeks away.
The Nationals have been a thorn for Teheran the past couple of seasons.
The Nationals broke the game open with the five-run eighth, though, as the Braves’ bullpen imploded.
OUR PICK: The over is a flawless 5-0 in the last five meetings between these two teams and is 3-1-1 in Teheran’s last five starts against the Nationals. The Braves dropped to 10-30 against the Nationals since June 21, 2014.
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Against Roark, the Braves’ Matt Kemp is 3-for-8 with two homers, Anthony Recker is 4-for-9 with a homer, Freddie Freeman is 11-for-28, Ender Inciarte is 4-for-8, Nick Markakis is 1-for-12 with a homer and six walks, and Jace Peterson is 1-for-13. Teheran has thrown 134.2 innings and holds that ERA despite being 3-9 for the last-place Braves, who have a five-game lead on the Twins in the race for the 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick. This one, to me, is one of his very finest songs, and that’s saying a lot considering the trove of terrific tunes he’s produced over five decades.
