A chance to bury the Braves

A seven-game lead (eight in the loss column) with 21 games remaining in the regular season is pretty safe. The Nationals are certainly aware of this, despite their day-at-a-time focus. Baseball Prospectus is giving the Nats a 98.6 percent chance to win the National League East. FanGraphs puts it at a 99.6 percent chance. It would take a miracle for the Braves to overtake the Nats in the division. But this is baseball. Anything can happen, and miracles have been known to occur. These next three days can go a long way to either securing the National League East title for the Nats, or allowing the Braves to leap back into the race. Should Atlanta continue their strong play against the Nats (they've won nine of the 13 contests between these teams this season) and earn a sweep on the road, they would find themselves back in the mix, with three more games against Washington awaiting them next week. Should the Nats take at least a game in this series, any type of comeback would be tough for a struggling Braves team to produce. "We've got a good cushion now," Adam LaRoche said after yesterday's win over the Phillies. "That being said, that can go pretty quick when you're playing the team that's trailing you. So these will be some big games. This is a chance to either allow them to hang on or close the door. "That being said, (Sunday's win over Philadelphia) was big. We avoid a sweep and have a win going into tomorrow. That would've been tough, losing our first three at home and then playing somebody who notoriously plays us really, really tough. It was a big game." The Nationals have the benefit of running out Doug Fister, Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg - "our three horses," as Gio Gonzalez called them - during this series with the Braves, while Atlanta will counter with Mike Minor, Ervin Santana and Aaron Harang. The Braves are 16-20 in their last 36 games. The Nats are 20-10 in their last 30. One team is treading water. Another has taken the division by the throat. Now is a chance to all but bury the competition "It's gonna be head-to-head," Drew Storen said. "They've given us trouble all year. It's going to be a good task for us here right in the heart of September. ... "It's exciting. It's a long marathon. It takes a lot of hard work, but it started since Day 1. We've had a great approach, a great team and even better chemistry. We just gotta finish it up now."