Braves at Nationals
The Atlanta Braves were criticized for not upgrading their pitching staff last offseason, but their newest acquisition is expected to make his 2019 season debut in Friday’s series opener at the Washington Nationals. Dallas Keuchel, who signed a $13-million contract with the National League East leaders on June 7, provides the Braves with a former Cy Young winner and two-time All-Star, and he joins a team coming off an 8-2 homestand in which it averaged 8.4 runs and 2.6 homers per game.
The Braves were off Thursday before opening a 10-game, three-city road trip and hope their offense remains red hot, especially third baseman Josh Donaldson - the one major upgrade to Atlanta’s roster during an otherwise-quiet offseason, who slugged six homers while posting a 1.326 OPS in his past 10 contests. The Nationals also have been hot of late, winning four games in a row and 17 of their past 24 after Thursday’s 7-4 home victory over Philadelphia to pull within two games of .500 for the first time since April 28 and 7 1/2 games of the first-place Braves. Infielder Howie Kendrick finished with two hits and two runs scored Thursday and since May 26 is batting .439 with four doubles, five homers and 18 RBIs. Center fielder Victor Robles reached base safely in 18 of his past 23 games and has homered in back-to-back contests, belting a three-run homer in the sixth inning Thursday
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS South (Atlanta), MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Dallas Keuchel (2018: 12-11, 3.74 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (7-4, 3.75)
Keuchel made 34 starts for Houston last season, one year after going 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA while helping lift the Astros to the World Series title. The 31-year-old, who allowed a league-leading 211 hits last season, gave up three runs on 12 hits with two walks and 13 strikeouts over 14 innings across two minor-league tune-up starts for Single-A Rome and Double-A Mississippi. Keuchel has held opponents to a .685 OPS in 183 career starts, posting a 3.66 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.
Strasburg’s three-start winning streak ended Saturday against Arizona in one of his worst outings of the season, giving up six runs on nine hits and a season-high four homers over five innings of a 10-3 defeat. The 30-year-old had pitched to a 2.93 ERA and allowed only two homers with 42 strikeouts in 40 innings across his previous six starts. That stretch included a 5-4 victory in Atlanta on May 28 during which Strasburg struck out a season high-tying 11 while surrendering two runs over seven innings, improving his lifetime numbers against the Braves to 12-11 with a 4.01 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Washington’s offense has scored five runs or more 10 times in 17 games this month, and on the season is 29-8 when scoring at least five.
2. Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman hit four homers and recorded a 1.107 OPS in his past 10 games, and since May 10 is hitting .331 with a .703 slugging percentage, 14 homers and 33 RBIs in 26 games.
3. The Nationals swept a two-game series at Atlanta on May 28-29, scoring 19 runs on 26 hits (nine for extra bases) in the pair of victories.