The Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg
was ready to get past his worst outing of the season not long after it
ended. A matchup with the Miami Marlins would appear to give him an
ideal opportunity to do just that.
The
right-hander will try to extend his 21-inning scoreless streak against
the Marlins on Sunday while helping the Nationals bolster their NL East
lead.
After going 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA over
his previous three starts, Strasburg (11-5, 3.12 ERA) matched a career
high with six runs allowed in an 8-0 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday.
"Obviously, he didn't have his best stuff and his location wasn't
real good," manager Davey Johnson said. "He was fighting himself, young
pitcher, lost a little poise. It's part of growing up."
A pair of homers accounted for four runs, and Strasburg gave up another six hits over his four innings.
"It's always a new day, so you can't really worry about what you did
the last time," he said. "I've just got to keep moving forward."
A matchup with the Marlins (49-59) could help the right-hander move
on. He's 3-1 with a 1.83 ERA in six career starts against Miami,
including two this season.
Strasburg has
lasted six innings in each and his scoreless streak is tied for the
fourth-longest active one for a starting pitcher against any opponent.
Nationals teammate Gio Gonzalez owns the longest, but his run of 27 2-3
shutout innings is against Cleveland.
The
Nationals (64-43) would love to see Strasburg top that mark and earn
another win over Miami. After splitting a series-opening doubleheader,
Washington rallied for a 10-7 victory Saturday after overcoming a season
high-tying three errors.
Danny Espinosa
and Bryce Harper homered during a six-run eighth inning, and Adam
LaRoche hit a pair of home runs, giving him seven in his last 11 games.
LaRoche is also batting .439 (18 for 41) with 14 RBIs over that stretch.
The win, coupled with Atlanta's loss to Houston, put the Nationals three games ahead of the Braves in the division.
"It started out a very sloppy game on our end, really for the
majority of that game," LaRoche said. "To turn it around like that, it
says something about this club. Not that we should be surprised. We've
been doing it all year."
In this game,
LaRoche and the Nationals will face Ricky Nolasco (8-10, 4.90), who is
0-4 with a 7.48 ERA over his last four starts.
Nolasco suffered the first of those defeats against Strasburg on July
15, giving up four runs over 5 1-3 innings in his only matchup with
Washington this season. He allowed another four runs over five innings
during a 7-1 loss in Atlanta on Tuesday.
"It's just a tough time right now for me, and a lot of people," he told the team's website. "We have to deal with it."
Jose Reyes will try to help his team salvage the series finale while
extending his hit streak to 24 games. The shortstop tied the New York
Yankees' Robinson Cano for the longest streak in the majors this season
by going 3 for 4 on Saturday.
Reyes,
batting .376 over his streak, is 3 for 6 with two doubles lifetime
against Strasburg. Carlos Lee, 17 for 34 (.500) during a 10-game hit
streak, is 2 for 7 with five runs scored during the series.
Washington's Michael Morse, owner of a 13-game hit streak, is 3 for 9 versus Nolasco.
