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Braves-Nationals Preview

May 5, 2010 - 4:17 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Atlanta (11-14) at Washington (13-12), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Just when it seemed the Atlanta Braves were back on track, their struggles on the road continue to threaten their progress.

The Braves look to avoid a ninth consecutive road loss when they continue their series with the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

Coming off a brutal 0-7 road trip to New York and St. Louis, Atlanta (11-15) bounced back by sweeping a three-game home set with Houston over the weekend. Even with some renewed confidence, the Braves were unable to carry it over and fell 6-3 at Washington on Tuesday to open a nine-game road swing.

Atlanta, 3-11 away from Turner Field, is mired in its longest road losing stretch since dropping 10 straight Aug. 31-Sept. 14, 1996. The Braves have hit .228 and scored 17 runs during their eight-game road skid.

"We've never given up on ourselves," manager Bobby Cox told the Braves' official website. "We got ourselves in a mess together and we'll get out of it together."

Rookie Jason Heyward hit his eighth homer and Brian McCann had two hits with an RBI on Monday for the Braves, who've scored 12 runs during a five-game losing streak to Washington (14-12).

Heyward has bounced back from a 1-for-20 stretch by going 9 for 16 with four homers and eight RBIs in his last five games.

After starter Kenshin Kawakami lasted just five innings in the series opener, the Braves hope for a longer outing from Tommy Hanson (2-2, 2.17 ERA) as he tries to continue his success against the Nationals.

The right-hander has pitched into the seventh inning in all four career starts versus Washington, going 2-0 with a 2.28 ERA.

Hanson, who had not lasted more than six innings in any of his first four starts this year, allowed two runs and struck out seven without a walk in eight innings of a 4-2 win over Houston on Friday.

"I wanted to come in and just throw a lot of strikes and go deep in the game," Hanson said.

Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham are a combined 1 for 19 against Hanson, but each homered Tuesday as the Nationals avoided a third straight loss with their third win in four games at home.

"It goes back to finding ways to win," Willingham said.

Dunn is batting .316 with four of his five home runs on the season in his last 10 games.

Washington will hand the ball to rookie Luis Atilano (2-0, 2.25) as he tries to open his major league career with wins in three straight starts. An eight-year minor leaguer who turns 25 on Monday, Atilano has made the most of filling in for the injured Jason Marquis in Washington's rotation.

The right-hander allowed one run in six innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his major league debut April 23, then followed that by giving up two runs in six innings of a 3-2 win at Chicago on Wednesday.

"I didn't know about Atilano, really. We didn't have a plan for him to be in the rotation," manager Jim Riggleman said.

Washington's Matt Capps, who converted his 11th save in as many chances Tuesday, has allowed one earned run in 14 1-3 innings this season.