Braves boast rested bullpen heading into rematch vs. Nationals

The Atlanta Braves continue to find ways to squeeze the most out of their bullpen as they head into their game against the visiting Washington Nationals on Saturday.

The Braves won the first two contests of the four-game series and hold a 6-3 lead over Washington in the season series. Atlanta extended its lead in the National League East back to eight games.

Washington, which has lost three in a row, is 2 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot.

The Atlanta relief corps has a league-leading 3.41 ERA. Relievers have covered 7 2/3 innings and allowed two runs in the first two games of the series.

Veteran Elieser Hernandez covered the final three innings on Friday to give top-of-the-line relievers Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias a needed night off.

"We've had a lot of that this year where guys have come out of the 'pen and thrown two, three, four innings and really picked us up," Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. "We've been playing a lot of one-run games, so you're using your guys and you have to have resets. It's critical that you have guys (like Hernandez) that come in and do that."

Saturday's pitching matchup features a pair of veteran right-handers in Atlanta's Reynaldo Lopez (4-3, 3.64 ERA) and Washington's Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.65).

Lopez bounced back after a rough start to throw 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. That was a marked improvement over his previous start on July 21 when he gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings of an 8-3 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Lopez has made six career appearances (five starts) against the Nationals, going 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA. He has made two appearances against Washington this season. On April 21, he was yanked after giving up four runs in one inning in an 11-4 loss. On May 24, he gave up one run in two innings of relief of a 2-1 loss but wasn't part of the decision.

Mikolas pitched four innings in his most recent start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, allowing three runs on four hits -- including two homers -- in the 10-7 victory. It concluded an inconsistent July that saw him make four appearances and pitch to a 6.62 ERA in 17 2/3 innings -- and serve a five-game suspension for a bench-clearing dustup against the Boston Red Sox.

Mikolas made one of his best starts of the season against Atlanta. He followed an opener with five scoreless innings in a game the Braves won 5-4 in 11 innings on May 22. In 10 career outings against Atlanta, he is 3-4 with a 3.04 ERA.

The Nationals hope to have Luis Garcia Jr., one of their hottest hitters, available on Saturday. Garcia, who came up one single short of the cycle on Thursday, left Friday's game in the seventh inning with right knee soreness.

"He slipped a little bit coming out of the box. I think it was his first at-bat," Washington manager Blake Butera said. "More precautionary than anything. He should be good to go tomorrow."

Andres Chaparro replaced Garcia at first base and hit a solo homer in the ninth inning.