Philadelphia plays Washington, aims to build on Wheeler's strong performance

Updated Jun. 5, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Washington Nationals (24-30, fourth in the NL East) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (26-30, third in the NL East)

Philadelphia; Saturday, 4:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Joe Ross (2-5, 5.40 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 47 strikeouts) Phillies: Spencer Howard (0-1, 5.56 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 17 strikeouts)

LINE: Phillies -130, Nationals +112; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Philadelphia heads into the matchup fresh off a dominant performance by Zack Wheeler. Wheeler went 7 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts against Washington.

The Phillies are 13-16 against NL East teams. Philadelphia is averaging 3.9 RBIs per game this season. Rhys Hoskins leads the team with 34 total runs batted in.

The Nationals are 9-11 against teams from the NL East. Washington ranks fifth in the MLB in hitting with a .249 batting average, Trea Turner leads the team with an average of .312.

The Nationals won the last meeting 2-1. Max Scherzer recorded his fifth victory and Juan Soto went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Washington. Zack Wheeler registered his third loss for Philadelphia.

TOP PERFORMERS: Hoskins leads the Phillies with 56 hits and has 34 RBIs.

Turner leads the Nationals with 20 extra base hits and is slugging .495.

LAST 10 GAMES: Phillies: 4-6, .239 batting average, 4.45 ERA, outscored by one run

Nationals: 4-6, .214 batting average, 4.28 ERA, outscored by nine runs

INJURIES: Phillies: JoJo Romero: (elbow), Matt Moore: (back), Seranthony Dominguez: (elbow), Roman Quinn: (achilles), Scott Kingery: (dizziness), Bryce Harper: (forearm), Didi Gregorius: (elbow).

Nationals: Stephen Strasburg: (neck), Will Harris: (hand), Erick Fedde: (undisclosed), Luis Avilan: (elbow), Yan Gomes: (hamstring).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.