Game 63 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

The Nationals spent the weekend taking advantage of a good Brewers club going through a rough stretch, extending Milwaukee’s losing streak to eight games before falling in Sunday’s finale. Now they’ll have to try to go up against a Braves team that’s absolutely on fire right now.

Atlanta enters the week on an 11-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents by 44 runs. The defending World Series champions were off to a ragged start to their season, but they’ve figured something out here recently and come to town on a roll.

Josiah Gray gets the start, and he’ll be looking to duplicate what he did at Truist Park back in April, when he held the Braves to one hit over five scoreless innings. The young righty also had a 10-strikeout game in Atlanta last summer, so he’s proven he can have some success against this very tough lineup.

The Nationals, who exploded for seven homers Friday and Saturday but were shut down Sunday, go up against Ian Anderson, who actually hasn’t faced them since he was a rookie in 2020. Davey Martinez is again going with Lane Thomas, who has gotten hot over the last few weeks, in center field leading off.

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 86 degrees, wind 5 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
CF Lane Thomas
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
SS Luis García

RHP Josiah Gray

BRAVES
RF Ronald Acuña Jr.
SS Dansby Swanson
3B Austin Riley
1B Matt Olson
2B Ozzie Albies
C Travis d’Arnaud
DH Marcell Ozuna
LF Adam Duvall
CF Michael Harris II

RHP Ian Anderson