Another meeting with Medlen

ATLANTA - Greetings from Atlanta, where I'm all set up after an interesting journey through an airport which always seems to confuse the heck out of me. The weather is absolutely gorgeous down here, not anywhere close to the record temperatures that affected Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals so much when they last visited in late June. We're set up for three straight days in the mid-80s with what should be clear skies the whole weekend. It looks like the Nationals have gotten some good news regarding Strasburg, albeit news which they might not really be concerned with right now. According to the CAA Sports agency, the projected 2013 super two cutoff will be two years and 139 days of service time, which Strasburg will not reach. That means that Strasburg doesn't project as a super two and thus will not get an extra year of arbitration, effectively saving the Nationals a nice chunk of change. On to more pressing matters, Strasburg's teammates will take on red-hot Braves right-hander Kris Medlen tonight, he of the two earned runs allowed in his last 39 innings. Yes, those numbers are accurate. Medlen has been practically unhittable lately, something the Nationals can personally attest to. They were held scoreless over seven innings by the 26-year-old back on Aug. 22 at Nats Park. Since moving into the Braves' rotation on July 31, Medlen has pitched to a ridiculous 0.81 ERA and has 53 strikeouts to just seven walks. The Braves have won the last 19 games Medlen has started, dating to 2010, and he's 13-0 over his last 24 starts overall. Coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Brewers, the Braves have the right guy going tonight as these two teams kick off their final series. Ross Detwiler will get the ball for the Nats as he shoots for his 10th win of the season. Detwiler is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts against the Braves this season.