Nats welcome Braves for 3-game series
When the Nationals take the field tonight to begin their weekend series with the Braves, they will have a new center fielder and lead-off batter in Nyjer Morgan.
Morgan was acquired on Tuesday in a trade that also brought left-handed reliever Sean Burnett in exchange for reliever Joel Hanrahan and outfielder Lastings Milledge.
Washington and Atlanta haven't faced each other since the Nationals took two of three from the Braves at Nationals Park in April, but Atlanta has won four of six on the season.
Left-hander Ross Detwiler (0-4, 5.24), who gets the start, is still searching for his first Major League victory.
Detwiler matched a season-high when he gave up five runs against the Orioles last Friday night in the Nationals 11-1 loss.
Making his first start against the Braves, Detwiler has been much better at Nationals Park than on the road this season.
He's 0-2 with a 3.64 ERA in five starts while holding opponents to a .224 batting average compared to 0-2 with an 8.40 ERA in three starts with opponents hitting .397 off him.
Atlanta sends Kenshin Kawakami (4-6, 4.25) to the bump. Kawakami will be making his third start against the Nationals this season.
On April 21, he gave up four runs, two earned, in five innings and took the loss in Washington's 4-3 victory.
Kawakami gave up three runs on two hits and an error and didn't retire a batter in the sixth before being lifted.
Last season, the Nationals were 7-2 against the Braves at Nationals Park.
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