Trying to stay in wild-card race, Braves take on Nats

The Atlanta Braves open a two-game series against the host Washington Nationals on Tuesday night looking to bounce back from a rough loss as they continue to compete for a National League wild-card spot.

The Braves (78-66) trail the New York Mets by one game for the final NL playoff position after wasting right-hander Charlie Morton's gem in a 1-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. Following the games in Washington, Atlanta returns home for a four-game series against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Atlanta right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (8-5, 2.04 ERA) will oppose Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore (8-11, 4.32) on Tuesday in the series opener.

Since coming off the injured list after recovering from forearm inflammation, Lopez is 1-1 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts. One of those outings was against Washington on Aug. 25, when he allowed one run over six innings in a no-decision.

Last time out, Lopez lost to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, allowing two runs on five hits -- two of them home runs -- in six innings. He struck out a season-high 11 and didn't walk a batter.

"No one wants to give up homers, no one wants to walk guys on four straight pitches, no one wants to lose games," Lopez said through an interpreter.

Lopez is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in three career starts vs. the Nationals, 0-2 with a 2.25 ERA against Washington this year.

After struggling through the middle part of the season, Gore has rebounded. Over his past three starts, he is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA. In his most recent outing, Gore allowed one run on one hit in six innings for a no-decision against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.

"I was trying to execute there for a while, and it wasn't very pretty," Gore said. "When I'm aggressive, I execute better. And that's kind of what we figured out in the last few outings. And just kind of trying to build off of it."

Gore is 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA in six career starts against the Braves. In three starts vs. Atlanta this year, he is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA.

On Monday, Morton allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings, but Atlanta managed just two hits while being shut out for the 10th time -- all since June 5. Matt Olson had both Braves hits.

The Braves are 5-6 over their past 11 games, while the Mets are 10-1.

"We've got a lot of faith in everybody," Olson said after the Monday loss. "Obviously, we didn't get much going tonight. It's been a struggle at times this year, but what's done is done. All we can worry about is tomorrow."

The Braves will be without catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who left the team on Monday when his wife went into labor. He plans to rejoin the squad in time for the weekend series against the Dodgers.

Despite dropping a 7-3 decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, the Nationals saw something promising. Shortstop CJ Abrams, who has been in an extended slump since the All-Star break (.170 batting average in 41 games), homered to lead off the game.

"It was big," Abrams said of the blast. "You've just got to believe in yourself when you're up there at the plate and keep working."

--Field Level Media