• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

James takes mound as Braves look for third straight win

Sep 8, 2007 - 1:00 PM Washington (63-78) at Atlanta (72-69) 7:05 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) - The Atlanta Braves look for their third straight win when they host the Washington Nationals in the middle game of a three-game series on Saturday.

After rallying from a six-run deficit to beat Philadelphia on Wednesday, the Braves received a huge pitching performance from John Smoltz, who carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Friday's 9-1 win.

Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer Friday for the Braves, who beat the Nationals for the seventh time in eight tries here.

Chuck James (9-10, 4.27 ERA) take the mound for the Braves, who trail the New York Mets (79-61) by 7 1/2 games in the National League East, and are 4 1/2 games back of the wild card-leading San Diego Padres (76-64). The lefthander is winless in his last five starts and has allowed 21 runs in his last 19 2/3 innings.

Last Saturday, the 25-year-old lefthander allowed three runs and five hits in five innings of a 5-1 loss to New York. It was James' second start since returning from a shoulder injury that landed him on the disabled list.

Washington, which committed five errors in Friday's opener, sends rookie Matt Chico to the hill. Chico (5-7, 4.78) has just one win in his last seven starts, and has not won since July 31. On Sunday, the lefthander suffered a tough-luck loss, yielding one run and four hits in seven innings of a 2-1 setback to San Francisco.

Chico has struggled on the road, going 0-5 with a 5.52 ERA in 11 starts.