Washington visits Miami, looks to build on Ross' strong performance

Washington Nationals (36-36, second in the NL East) vs. Miami Marlins (31-43, fifth in the NL East)

Miami; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Jon Lester (1-2, 3.96 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 35 strikeouts) Marlins: Pablo Lopez (3-4, 2.86 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 85 strikeouts)

LINE: Marlins -138, Nationals +119; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Joe Ross. Ross went seven innings, giving up zero runs on four hits with eight strikeouts against Miami.

The Marlins are 12-11 against opponents from the NL East. Miami's lineup has 70 home runs this season, Adam Duvall leads them with 16 homers.

The Nationals are 15-14 against teams from the NL East. Washington's team on-base percentage of .318 is fourth in the National League. Juan Soto leads the team with an OBP of .387.

The Nationals won the last meeting 7-3. Joe Ross earned his fourth victory and Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs for Washington. Cody Poteet registered his third loss for Miami.

TOP PERFORMERS: Duvall leads the Marlins with 16 home runs and is slugging .459.

Schwarber leads the Nationals with 29 extra base hits and is slugging .549.

LAST 10 GAMES: Marlins: 2-8, .196 batting average, 2.82 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Nationals: 9-1, .283 batting average, 3.14 ERA, outscored opponents by 20 runs

INJURIES: Marlins: Nick Neidert: (biceps), Elieser Hernandez: (quad), Jorge Guzman: (elbow), Daniel Castano: (shoulder), Jeff Brigham: (undisclosed), Corey Dickerson: (foot), Garrett Cooper: (back), Jose Devers: (shoulder), Brian Anderson: (shoulder).

Nationals: Stephen Strasburg: (neck), Daniel Hudson: (elbow), Will Harris: (hand), Kyle Finnegan: (hamstring), Luis Avilan: (elbow), Andrew Stevenson: (oblique), Josh Bell: (undisclosed).

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