Washington hosts Cincinnati following Scherzer's solid showing

Cincinnati Reds (21-25, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (20-24, fifth in the NL East)

Washington; Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Jeff Hoffman (3-3, 4.31 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 39 strikeouts) Nationals: Joe Ross (2-4, 5.72 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 36 strikeouts)

LINE: Nationals -135, Reds +117; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Max Scherzer. Scherzer pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts against Cincinnati.

The Nationals are 12-11 on their home turf. Washington's team on-base percentage of .320 is fourth in the National League. Josh Harrison leads the lineup with an OBP of .372.

The Reds are 10-12 on the road. The Cincinnati offense has compiled a .247 batting average as a team this season, good for seventh in the National League. Nick Castellanos leads the team with an average of .359.

The Reds won the last meeting 2-1. Tyler Mahle secured his third victory and Eugenio Suarez went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Cincinnati. Max Scherzer registered his third loss for Washington.

TOP PERFORMERS: Trea Turner leads the Nationals with 10 home runs and is slugging .533.

Castellanos leads the Reds with 60 hits and is batting .359.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 5-5, .265 batting average, 4.92 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Reds: 4-6, .233 batting average, 5.23 ERA, outscored by 22 runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Tanner Rainey: (undisclosed), Will Harris: (hand), Erick Fedde: (undisclosed), Luis Avilan: (elbow), Victor Robles: (ankle).

Reds: Wade Miley: (foot), Michael Lorenzen: (shoulder), Brandon Bailey: (elbow), Nick Senzel: (knee), Aristides Aquino: (hand), Joey Votto: (thumb), Mike Moustakas: (heel).

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