MLB Game Preview - Washington at Atlanta

Fri Jul 19, 2019 7:20 PM EDT

The Washington Nationals hope to see their streak of excellent efforts from their starting pitchers continue when they take on the Atlanta Braves in the second game on their four-game series on Friday at Atlanta's SunTrust Park.

The pitching matchup features Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran (5-6, 3.71) against Washington southpaw Patrick Corbin (7-5, 3.39).

The Nationals won the series opener 13-4 on Thursday, behind the pitching and hitting of Stephen Strasburg, who won his 12th game, homered and drove in five runs.

Washington pitchers have allowed one or fewer earned runs in 12 of 18 games dating to June 25. Over their last 13 games, Washington starters have combined to pitch to a 1.97 ERA (18 earned runs in 82 innings) with 96 strikeouts and 17 walks. The starting rotation has not absorbed a loss since June 15 against Arizona. In the 25 games since that contest, the rotation is 15-0.

Corbin will make his first start against the Braves as a member of the Nationals. He is 5-1 with a 1.66 ERA in nine previous appearances (seven starts) against Atlanta. He beat the Braves on Sept. 7, 2018, when he allowed one run over six innings and struck out nine as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Corbin does not have a decision in his three starts during July, even though the Nationals have won each of those games. He has a 1.80 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 20 innings over his last three starts. Corbin pitched six innings and allowed three runs, striking out 10, in his last start against Philadelphia.

Teheran was originally scheduled to start on Thursday, but the Braves bumped him back a day in order to start Triple-A callup Kyle Wright. The move gives Teheran and Saturday starter Mike Soroka both an extra day of rest.

Teheran pitched well in his first post-All-Star Game start. He gave up three runs, two earned, in six innings against the San Diego Padres. He received no decision for the third straight start. In two July stars, Teheran has a 1.50 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 12 innings.

Teheran will be making his 22nd career start against Washington. He is 6-6 with a 4.13 ERA against the Nationals, but has not faced them this season. Teheran was 0-2 against Washington in 2018. He has allowed more home runs to the Nationals (19) than any other club in his career.

The Nationals had no news on whether Max Scherzer would be able to return to the mound from his lower back strain and pitch Sunday. He played catch, but did not throw off the mound as the team had hoped.

"The biggest thing with me is to make sure that he's 100 percent," manager Dave Martinez said. "That's something we talked about (Thursday). He's got to feel 100 percent before he goes back out there. He feels good and says he's close, but we'll see how he feels (Friday)."

The Braves are expected to activate right-hander Kevin Gausman from the injured list to take the start on Sunday. Gausman has been sidelined since June 11 with plantar fasciitis.

"He threw a side session (Thursday) and had a really good rehab start last time," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. "Talking to him, he feels really good where he's at right now."

Gausman struck out 10 batters in a six-inning start for Triple-A Gwinnett.

--Field Level Media