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Atlanta Braves & Washington Nationals square off in critical series

By Jake Mastroianni

ATLANTA, GA - MAY 28: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves steals second base ahead of the throw to Brian Dozier #9 of the Washington Nationals in the first inning of an MLB game at SunTrust Park on May 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - MAY 28: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves steals second base ahead of the throw to Brian Dozier #9 of the Washington Nationals in the first inning of an MLB game at SunTrust Park on May 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 06: Max  Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals pitches in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Nationals Park on July 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Nationals are paying tribute to the Montreal Expos by wearing retro jerseys. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 06: Max  Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals pitches in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Nationals Park on July 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Nationals are paying tribute to the Montreal Expos by wearing retro jerseys. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

Game 4 – Max Scherzer vs. Kevin Gausman

Neither team has announced a starter for the Sunday night game on ESPN, but I’m taking a guess that it will be Max Scherzer and Kevin Gausman both making their returns.

It sounds like Scherzer is making progress to return from his back injury by Sunday, and that’s bad news for the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves have done a good job of avoiding him so far this season, but we may not luck out here.

Ronald Acuna Jr. (4-for-9) and Nick Markakis (19-for-63) have had the most success against him.

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If Scherzer isn’t able to go on Sunday, the Atlanta Braves will likely face Austin Voth.

He pitched against the Braves last month and was very good giving up just 2 runs in 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. Both runs he gave up were solo shots – one by Acuna and one by Donaldson.

Gausman has made three rehab starts, one at each level, and is stretched out and ready to go for Sunday if the Atlanta Braves decide to do so.

In his start on Tuesday at Gwinnett, he gave up 2 earned runs on 6 hits with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts over 7 innings.

I believe they said on the telecast the other night that Gausman was working on a new breaking pitch that seemed to be working well for him.

Let’s hope that’s the case and Gausman proves to be as reliable down the stretch for us this year as last year.

Next. Bargain shopping for relievers. dark

This will be a huge test for the Atlanta Braves as they’ll likely face the Nationals big three. Most fans won’t want to hear this, but I’d take a split and be happy in this series.

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