Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals preview: Ervin Santana vs. Stephen Strasburg

The losing streak is at eight games and counting for the Atlanta Braves, and tonight things will get even tougher (on paper) for the team, as they take on the NL East leading Washington Nationals. Fortunately for the Braves, they have owned this team over the past several seasons, and the guy they are putting on the mound has been equally owned by the team.

From here on out, all games against the Nationals will be crucial and if this team is capable of hanging around and fighting for the division they’ll need to show it here.

The Pitching Match-up:

Ervin Santana will get the start for the Braves in this one and he has pitched extremely well of late. Over his past three starts, he’s gone at least 6.2 innings and hasn’t allowed more than two runs. In two of those games he’s also had double-digit strikeouts. On the season, Santana is looking at a really solid 3.59 ERA, 3.12 FIP and 3.31 xFIP with excellent K/BB numbers. He’s striking out 8.09 batters per nine while walking 2.67 per nine–good for a K/BB ratio of 3.02.

Stephen Strasburg will be on the hill against Santana, and while the Washington ace is having an excellent season, he’s never shown that he can replicate his numbers against the Braves. In 151.1 innings so far this season, Strasburg is striking out a crazy 10.53 batters per nine and walking just 1.96 (5.36 K/BB). That’s insane, and they are the best numbers for him in any season where he’s thrown at least 100 innings. He’s looking at a 3.39 ERA on the season while his FIP (2.73) and xFIP (2.55) argue that he’s been a bit better than that shows.

_____