Nationals at Braves
Daniel Murphy wasted little time making a huge impression on his new team, and the Washington Nationals look for more of the same from their new second baseman when they play at the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. Murphy blasted a solo homer and sliced home an RBI single in the 10th inning of Monday’s season-opening 4-3 victory, the type of production he displayed by while hitting .328 with seven homers for the Mets in last year’s postseason.
“Classic Daniel Murphy,” left fielder Jayson Werth joked with reporters after the Nationals rallied from a late deficit, giving new manager Dusty Baker a victory in his debut while avoiding what would have been a disappointing loss against the rebuilding Braves. Atlanta took advantage of shaky Washington relief to take an eighth-inning lead, but dropped a potential game-ending throw at home plate in the ninth before an error set up Murphy’s go-ahead hit in the 10th. “We played a great ballgame until the last couple of innings,” Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman told the media afterward. The Braves have lost 15 of their last 20 games against Washington since the start of last season.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington), FSN South (Atlanta)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (2015: 11-7, 3.46 ERA) vs. Braves RH Bud Norris (2015: 3-11, 6.72 ERA)
Nobody in baseball may be happier Turner Field is closing at season’s end than Strasburg, who sports a career 4.79 ERA in nine starts in the Braves’ current home. Baker originally stated in spring training he wanted left-hander Gio Gonzalez to split powerful right-handers Max Scherzer and Strasburg at the top of the Nationals’ rotation, and plans on altering the rotation to make that happen. Strasburg missed key stretches of last season (the first three weeks of June; a month from early July to early August), but finished strong, striking out 50 hitters in his four September starts.
Norris reinvigorated his career with two solid seasons in Baltimore in 2013-14, winning 15 games with a 3.65 ERA in 2014, but endured a disastrous 2015 campaign between the Orioles and San Diego that saw the seven-year veteran relegated to long relief and mop-up duty. The 31-year-old, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with Atlanta in the offseason after missing time last season with bronchitis and fatigue, surrendered a .309 opponents’ batting average in going 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in six starts this spring. Norris is 2-1 in seven career appearances (four starts) against Washington, giving up two runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief across three appearances in 2015.
WALK-OFFS
1. New Washington CF Ben Revere did not have a stellar debut like Murphy, leaving Monday with a right rib cage injury suffered in his first at-bat.
2. The bottom five spots in Atlanta’s lineup Monday finished 0-for-17 with eight strikeouts.
3. Baker told reporters Gonzalez will be available out of the bullpen Wednesday, and will make his first start Monday against the Braves in Washington.