Daniel Shirey-USA Today Sports
Seven of the Washington Nationals‘ first 29 games were against the Atlanta Braves. The first five were losses for the upstarts from the nation’s capitol, helping vault the loaded Braves to the best record in the NL.
But on their sixth and seventh meetings, at Turner Field in Atlanta, the Nats found ways to beat the Braves — and they did so with a less-than-100 percent Bryce Harper.
Harper is the heartbeat of the young Nationals, and they no doubt feed off his energy and breakneck style of baseball. But, there are other pieces that must fit into place if Washington plans to make a run at the Braves in the NL east.
Pitching is the No. 1 component. The whole world knows that Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are the staff aces, but it was Jordan Zimmerman who dealt the Braves a nasty deck of unhittable pitches during Wednesday night’s win.
There was no way new National right hander Dan Haren was going to be able to match Zimmerman’s two-hit, eight-strikeout performance the following night, right? Well, put that notion to bed because Haren came pretty darned close with a four-hitter.
With the two wins, Washington managed a series split, but possibly much more than that. They gained the confidence they will need to defeat the better teams in the NL … namely, Atlanta.
Now when the Nationals make their next trip to Turner field for a three-game series at the end of May, they will have some irons in the fire —irons they will need against the mighty Braves lineup. It will be an important series to win for both squads since they don’t see each other again until August.
Kenny Bristow is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @kennybristow, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
