Weekend Series: Atlanta @ Washington.....Plus Injury Updates

Tonight will begin the weekend series against divisional foe Washington Nationals. This is a good opportuinity for the Braves to get a little winning streak going. After winning 2/3 against the Mets it seemed to have lifted the Braves up, how much of lift is yet to be determined.

The injuries continue to take a toll on the team. Marcus Giles suffered a sprained finger during the Mets series and will take some time off before determining whether a DL visit is needed. Martin Prado has been called up to fill the roster spot. Chipper Jones plans to be off the disabled list and back with the team for the back half of the Brewers series early next week. Edgar Renteria might be ready to return in a few days. All in all the Braves are really working with a skeleton crew in the IF.

The probables for the weekend are:

Fri: Smoltz (1-1) vs. Patterson (1-0)

Sat: Thomson(0-0) vs. Ramon Ortiz (0-2)

Sun: Davies (1-1) vs. Armas (1-2)

If the hitting can keep up it's mean streak I don't see any reason why Atlanta can't sweep this series. Smoltz and Davies picked up complete games during their last outings and John Thomson has pitched the best over his last two starts.

The rest of the NL East:
Mets @ Padres
Bannister/Williams, Pedro/Chris Young, Zambrano/Hensley

Marlins @ Phillies
Olsen/Leiber, Mitre/Meyers, Moehler/Lidle