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Rookie star Stephen Strasburg leads the Washington Nationals as they visit the toughest home team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves. First pitch is a 7 PM ET.

The Washington Nationals (33-43, 13-27 away) are coming off of the wrong end of a sweep at the hands of the cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles. They fell short by just a single run in each game.

The Nationals have now been swept three times in interleague play this season and have the worst interleague record in the majors at 3-12.

The Atlanta Braves (44-32, 26-8 home) have rebounded from a poor start to the season and now lead the NL East.

The Braves batting line-up will prove to be a big test for the rookie pitcher. Martin Prado sports a National League-best .334 batting average and leads the Braves with 108 hits. As a team the Braves have the best OBP in the NL at .348 and have top-five OPS at .745, hits at 656 and runs at 359.

Jason Heyward will likely miss the game. Heyward’s 45 RBIs is tops among rookies and his 11 home runs ranks second. The right fielder has been suffering from a sore thumb lately that’s seen his batting average drop from .337 in May to .181 in June. He will be getting an MRI today and will likely miss the game.

Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 1.78 ERA) may just be a rookie, but he should be used to being the story of the game. The pitching phenom is coming off of his first loss on Wednesday, but in four starts he has struck out a major league record 41 batters.

On the mound for the Braves will be Tim Hudson (7-3, 2.54 ERA). Hudson has a 4-1 record with an ERA of 1.87 in five starts at home.

The Washington Nationals (14-12, 8-6 home) host the Atlanta Braves (11-15, 3-11 away) in the second of a three-game series in a night game at 7 PM ET.

The Washington Nationals put an end to Atlanta’s three-game win streak with a 6-3 win last night. They are well on their way to having the best season since moving to Washington and are just a game back of top spot in the NL East. Closer Matt Capps leads the league with 11 saves.

The Atlanta Braves road woes continued last night as they have now lost eight in a row away from home and have a 3-11 road record. Their glory days are now barely a memory as the Braves sit last in the NL East.

Rookie Jason Heyward‘s play gives some hope for the future. The right fielder is sixth in the National League with a 1.038 OPS and is batting .289 with 8 homers. Four of those home runs have come in the last five games where he has gone 9-for-16.

Tommy Hanson (2-2, 2.17 ERA) will take to the mound and try to stem the tide of road losses. Hanson is 2-0 in four quality starts versus the Nationals with a 2.28 ERA.

Getting the start for Washington is Luis Atilano (2-0, 2.25 ERA). Atilano is getting just his third start in the bigs after eight years in the minors. His first two starts both went six innings. He’s given up a total of three runs and still hasn’t surrendered a homer.