Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals Series Preview

The Braves host the Nationals for a three-game weekend series with two of Washington's potential all-stars facing a Braves team that was denied a sweep against Arizona. Washington is coming off a series in Colorado that saw them score 35 runs in splitting a four-game set.

The Braves have played two series against the Nationals this year; both times they've had to face both Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. If they are to gain any ground in the standings during this series, they'll have to do it a third time. By the way, Mike Minor and Randall Delgado are scheduled to pitch for Atlanta in this series, and both of their last starts were far from promising. Braves fans can only hope they step up their performance against the division leaders.

One player for the Nats who has caught fire this month is Tyler Moore. In 12 games this month, all Moore has done is hit .455 with four home runs, four multi-hit games and an OPS of 1.448. Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper have also been on a roll this month, hitting .297 and .289 respectively. The Nats are 12th in the NL with 298 runs scored.

The pitching staff has won 14 games this month with a 3.31 ERA. Ross Detwiler and Chien-Ming Wang have again flip-flopped between bullpen and starting rotation. Detwiler has allowed just two runs in 16.1 June innings while Wang has surrendered 11 runs and issued 11 walks opposite eight strikeouts in 14.2 innings. Tyler Clippard has not been scored upon in his last 16 appearances and has allowed a total of four hits since April 28, and just one in 11 June games. Of the eight runs he's allowed this year, six were in April.

Pitching matchups after the jump.

Friday, June 29, 7:35 p.m. ET

Randall Delgado

#40 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-3

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 09, 1990

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Randall Delgado	4-8	14	14	0	0	0	0	75.2	68	39	38	6	39	61	4.52	1.41

Ross Detwiler

#48 / Pitcher / Washington Nationals

Height: 6-5

Weight: 185

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Mar 06, 1986

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Ross Detwiler	4-3	16	10	0	0	0	0	67.0	58	28	23	6	23	49	3.09	1.21

Saturday, June 30, 4:05 p.m. ET

Mike Minor

#36 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-3

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Dec 26, 1987

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Mike Minor	3-6	14	14	0	0	0	0	80.2	83	60	55	18	33	70	6.14	1.44

Stephen Strasburg

#37 / Pitcher / Washington Nationals

Height: 6-4

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 20, 1988

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Stephen Strasburg	9-2	15	15	0	0	0	0	90.0	71	29	26	6	23	118	2.60	1.04

Sunday, July 1, 1:35 p.m. ET

Tim Hudson

#15 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-1

Weight: 175

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 14, 1975

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Tim Hudson	6-3	11	11	1	1	0	0	73.0	66	31	29	3	21	51	3.58	1.19

Gio Gonzalez

#47 / Pitcher / Washington Nationals

Height: 6-0

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Sep 19, 1985

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Gio Gonzalez	10-3	15	15	0	0	0	0	90.2	63	29	28	3	35	108	2.78	1.08

BULLPEN

L - Sean Burnett
R - Tyler Clippard (closer)
L - Mike Gonzalez
L - Tom Gorzelanny
R - Ryan Mattheus
R - Craig Stammen
R - Chien-Ming Wang