Let's take a look at the projected pitching matchups for the series against the Atlanta Braves.

Friday, August 12, RHP Josiah Gray (0-1, 4.00 ERA) vs. RHP Charlie Morton (10-4, 3.52 ERA) | First Pitch: 7:05 pm

Taking the mound Friday night against the Braves will be the newly acquired Josiah Gray once again. After a decent first outing, Gray was electric in his previous start, also against Atlanta, where he struck out 10 batters in only five innings of work. He only gave up four hits and one earned run in those five innings on only 82 pitches. His pitch count should increase as he continues to get stretched out.

Facing Gray for the Braves will be veteran Charlie Morton, who was also pitching the last time Washington and Atlanta played each other. Morton pitched six innings with seven strikeouts and only gave up three hits. The Nationals really struggled to get anything going against Morton, relying on 9th innings heroics from Riley Adams to win that game.

The game can be seen on MASN and heard on 106.7, the Fan.

Saturday, August 13, LHP Patrick Corbin (6-11, 5.83 ERA) vs. LHP Max Fried (9-7, 3.91 ERA) | First Pitch: 6:05 pm

Saturday night's matchup features two lefties in Corbin and Fried. Patrick Corbin’s struggles have continued into August now. Something to note is that Corbin seems to be able to get through a clean four or five innings before blowing up and needing to be replaced. He pitched five innings of two run baseball last time out before giving up three more earned runs before coming out in the sixth. Had he stayed the course, he was on track to pitch deep as he had only thrown 68 pitches.

Fried has had an outstanding start to August with a 0.75 ERA over two starts thus far. His last outing against the Nationals was six innings of one run baseball while giving up seven hits. Since the first part of June, Fried has also been consistently giving the Braves five to seven innings per outing, showing an increased ability to pitch well as the season has gone by. Even with this, Max Fried is still 3-3 with a 5.45 ERA in 10 appearances against the Nationals in his career.

Sunday, August 14, RHP Paolo Espinio (3-3, 3.74 ERA) vs. LHP Drew Smyly (8-3, 4.41 ERA) | First Pitch: 1:20 pm

Espino gets the call for the final game of this three game series against the Braves and will look to improve on his recent outings. Espino has pitched against the Braves four times and gave up no runs in those outings this season. His last outing was cut to one inning due to rain, but the start before that saw him give up six runs in five innings to Philadelphia.

In his career Espino has appeared five times against the Braves and has given up zero total runs, but only in seven innings of work.

Closing out the series for Atlanta is veteran Drew Smyly who has a respectable 4.41 ERA this season. Smyly hasn’t been outstanding, but he has been getting the job done more times than not. His last outing saw him go six innings with seven strikeouts and gave up only two runs. He has five career appearances against Washington with an ERA of 2.59.

Series Notes: Atlanta Braves

• The Braves have won 7 of their last 10 games coming into this series.
• The Braves are 3rd in the NL East, only 1 game out of first place.
• Ozzie Albies leads the team in RBI and also had a walk off homerun to beat the Reds on August 11th.
• Charlie Morton leads the Braves in innings, starts, and wins in 2021.