Despite occupying last place in the NL East, the Washington Nationals have put together an impressive run, and some of that success has come at the expense of the Atlanta Braves.
The Nationals look for their sixth consecutive win over the Braves on Thursday night when the teams open a four-game series at Turner Field.Washington (54-86) has won eight of its last nine games after posting a 2-14 mark in its previous 16. The Nationals have used a productive offense to put that poor stretch behind them, hitting .313 with eight homers and 58 runs over the last nine games.
The Nationals have won five straight against the Braves (60-80), including a three-game home sweep last weekend. Washington has won 10 of 14 meetings in 2008, its first season series win against Atlanta since 2000, when the franchise was the Montreal Expos.
Washington continued to be a pesky team Wednesday, beating Philadelphia 9-7 as Cristian Guzman hit a bases-clearing double during a four-run eighth to take two of three from the playoff-contending Phillies.
Guzman set a franchise single-season record Wednesday with his eighth consecutive multi-hit game, helping Washington win each of those contests. In that span, the shortstop is 21-for-39 (.538) with five doubles, a homer and 10 RBIs. He went 7-for-16 (.438) in last week's sweep of Atlanta.
The Nationals hope Jason Bergmann (2-10, 4.83 ERA) can win for the first time in five starts.
The right-hander is 0-2 with an 8.55 ERA while serving up five homers over his last four outings. That dismal stretch continued Saturday as he allowed six runs and eight hits, including two homers, in 4 1-3 innings of a 9-8, 10-inning win over Atlanta.
"I didn't have good command. ... (Saturday) was not a fun day for me," Bergmann told the Nats' official Web site.
Bergmann is 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in eight games - three starts - at Turner Field.
The Braves, meanwhile, have dropped five of their last six games and 18 of 23 after falling 5-3 at Florida on Wednesday.
"We've lost a lot of games this year," said Braves catcher Brian McCann, who went 0-for-4 Wednesday. "You get to the point where you are repeating yourself. We were in the game the whole time. Bottom line is they outscored us."
Atlanta will turn to Jo-Jo Reyes (3-10, 5.49), who started opposite Bergmann on Saturday. The left-hander, who is 0-1 with a 14.21 ERA in two starts against Washington, allowed four runs and eight hits in four innings as the Braves lost his eighth consecutive start.
Reyes is 0-6 with a 6.75 ERA and 29 walks in 45 1-3 innings over his last 10 games - nine starts - since posting a victory over the Los Angeles Angels on June 13.
Since then, he was sent to the minors for three weeks before returning to the rotation Aug. 19, a 7-3 loss at New York.
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