First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Atlanta -105, Washington -105, Total: 6.5

A night after clinching the NL East, the Nationals look to pad their NL-best record on the road against the Braves.

Washington has clinched its division for the second time in three years and did so at the heels of winning eight of the past 10 contests. In the past four games, the pitching has let up a meager five runs while the offense has plated 20 runs. To clinch the division, the Nationals fittingly shut out the Braves, 3-0, while holding them to just five singles behind the arm of Tanner Roark (7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 4 K's). It is a good thing that the pitching is doing so well with 1B Adam LaRoche (.257 BA) going hitless (0-for-17) with six strikeouts over his past four games. Atlanta has watched the bottom drop out from its season, falling below .500 with Tuesday night’s loss. The Braves offensive woes are certainly to blame for the collapse as they have averaged a pitiful 2.3 runs per game over the past 10 contests and have scored the second-fewest runs (547) in all of baseball. Even with the offense doing so poorly, 1B Freddie Freeman (.291 BA) has put together a solid year, and before going hitless on Tuesday, he had an 11-game hitting streak going where he was 14-for-36 (.389) with a homer, 4 RBI and four runs. Two strong pitchers will toe the rubber to start this game, as LHP Gio Gonzalez (8-10, 3.79 ERA) goes for the visiting Nationals and will face LHP Alex Wood (10-10, 2.83 ERA) of the host Braves. The road has given Washington no issues, as the club is 41-35 (.539) in away games while Atlanta dropped to 40-33 (.548) at Turner Field after Tuesday’s loss. When these two clubs meet, it is always heated, and the Braves have gotten the better of the Nationals over the past three seasons, going 31-24 (.564) overall and 15-12 (.556) at home. Surprisingly, they have also done well against them this season with a 10-8 record, but have lost four of the past five meetings. Some trends to keep an eye on in this game include that the Braves are a mere 10-24 (.294) after 10 straight games where they failed to hit more than one homer this season while being 54-34 (.614) after losing four or five of their previous six contests in the past two years. In injury news, OF Bryce Harper (illness) returned to the lineup on Tuesday while 3B Ryan Zimmerman (hamstring) continues to ride the disabled list for the Nationals. The Braves come into this game with no significant injuries to their offense.

While Gio Gonzalez’s record may not show it, he is having a fantastic season while striking out more than one batter per inning (9.1 K/9) and keeping the ball in the park with a mere 10 home runs allowed in his 144.2 frames (0.62 HR/9). He has also pitched with career-best control, walking 3.4 batters per nine innings, and has two or fewer free passes in eight of his past 10 outings. Gonzalez has given the Nationals five consecutive quality starts coming into this game while his team is 3-2 in that time. The lefty has had tons of trouble against the Braves in his career, going 2-8 (2-9 team record) with a 5.20 ERA and 1.54 WHIP, and has lost both of his starts against them this season while allowing eight runs on 15 hits (3 HR) in 10.2 frames. Doing much of the damage against him has been 1B Freddie Freeman (7-for-24, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 9 RBI), OF Justin Upton (5-for-16, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 6 BB's) and SS Andrelton Simmons (6-for-18, 1 double, 1 triple, 2 HR, 5 RBI). The only player who has truly done poor against Gonzalez is C Gerald Laird, who is 1-for-10 with four strikeouts. The Nationals bullpen has been stellar this season, going 26-15 (.634) with a 2.91 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, and has saved 40-of-56 (71%) games. Drew Storen (1.23 ERA, 7 saves) has been phenomenal while taking over the closing duties in early September and is 6-for-6 in save chances since then with no runs and three hits allowed in 5.1 innings pitched.

While the team around him is crumbling to the ground, Alex Wood has been putting together quite a tremendous season. He has both an above-average strikeout-rate (8.8 K/9) and walk rate (2.4 BB/9) while allowing 14 home runs in 159 innings (0.79 HR/9). Not all of his games have come as a starter though, as he has taken the mound to start the game in 22 of his 33 appearances. In his starts, he actually has a much better ERA (2.63) than when he is coming out of the bullpen (4.70 ERA). Each of Wood’s past nine games have been quality starts, with his ERA being 1.88 over that time. The Nationals have given him no issues, and he is 2-1 (4-1 team record) against them with a 1.48 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. His last outing on Aug. 10 was possibly his best one, as he allowed one run on five hits over 7.1 innings while striking out 12 batters in a winning effort against this division foe. Both 3B Anthony Rendon (8-for-13, 1 HR) and OF Jayson Werth (4-for-9, 1 RBI, 4 BB's) have done well against the lefty in their at-bats, while C Wilson Ramos, 1B Adam LaRoche and OF Denard Span are a combined 4-for-32 (.125) with 15 strikeouts versus Wood. The relievers on Atlanta are 20-22 this year with a 3.18 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, and have been successful in 50-of-63 (79%) save opportunities. Closer Craig Kimbrel (1.74 ERA, 43 saves) has blown four games on the year while striking out a ton of batters (13.9 K/9) and keeping the ball in the park (0.32 HR/9).