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Series Preview: Washington Nationals (7-5) @ Miami Marlins (2-10)

Last time these teams faced off, the Miami Marlins scored one run. Now, the Nationals are coming off of their first time being swept against the team that is leading the division they won last year. Jordan Zimmermann vs Wade LeBlanc tonight in Miami.

By Jared Book
Marc Serota

This is the first "repeat" series of the 2013 season, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Washington Nationals. They get a chance to play the Miami Marlins again after limiting them to one run in the previous three game series.

That will probably be harder to do with the bottom of the rotation going for the Nationals but the Marlins may just be the cure to what ails the Nationals.

Let's take a closer look at the three-game set.

Probable Pitchers
Monday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Jordan Zimmermann (2-0, 2.08 ERA)
MIA: Wade LeBlanc (0-2, 3.27 ERA)

Tuesday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Dan Haren (1-1, 9.00 ERA)
MIA: Alex Sanabia (1-1, 4.91 ERA)

Wednesday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Ross Detwiler (0-0, 0.69 ERA)
MIA: Ricky Nolasco (0-1, 3.12 ERA)

Projected Marlins Lineup (via MLB Depth Charts)
1. LF Juan Pierre (vs RHP)
2. 2B Donovan Solano
3. RF Giancarlo Stanton
4. 3B Placido Polanco
5. CF Justin Ruggiano
6. 1B Greg Dobbs
7. C Rob Brantly
8. SS Adeiny Hechavarria

Marlins Bench
C Miguel Olivo
C Kyle Skipworth
IF Chris Valaika
OF Chris Coghlan
OF Austin Kearns (LF vs LHP)

Marlins Bullpen
RHP Steve Cishek
RHP Jon Rauch
RHP Ryan Webb
LHP Michael Dunn
RHP A.J. Ramos
RHP Chad Qualls
RHP John Maine

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Gio Gonzalez 3 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 1.250
Bryce Harper 12 46 9 16 1 0 5 10 4 10 1 1 .348 .400 .696
Dan Haren 2 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .667
Kurt Suzuki 7 16 2 5 2 0 1 3 4 3 0 0 .313 .476 .625
Denard Span 12 43 8 13 2 0 0 3 9 4 2 1 .302 .423 .349
Wilson Ramos 6 20 3 6 0 0 2 3 3 1 0 1 .300 .391 .600
Steve Lombardozzi 6 7 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .286 .375 .429
Jayson Werth 12 48 8 13 1 0 3 8 1 12 2 0 .271 .300 .479
Ian Desmond 12 45 5 12 4 1 2 3 1 12 1 0 .267 .277 .533
Ryan Zimmerman 12 41 1 9 2 1 0 7 6 9 0 0 .220 .313 .317
Danny Espinosa 12 40 5 7 4 0 1 3 2 6 0 0 .175 .233 .350
Chad Tracy 7 13 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 .154 .214 .154
Adam LaRoche 10 34 2 5 0 0 2 4 3 10 0 0 .147 .216 .324
Tyler Moore 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ross Detwiler 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 .000 .200 .000
Stephen Strasburg 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Roger Bernadina 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 .000 .250 .000
Jordan Zimmermann 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Craig Stammen 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Drew Storen 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ryan Mattheus 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Tyler Clippard 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Rafael Soriano 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Henry Rodriguez 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Zach Duke 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000

Pitching

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
Ross Detwiler 0-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 13.0 10 2 1 1 3 6 0.69 1.00
Jordan Zimmermann 2-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 13.0 15 3 3 1 2 5 2.08 1.31
Stephen Strasburg 1-2 3 3 0 0 0 0 18.1 17 8 6 1 5 15 2.95 1.20
Drew Storen 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 1 5.1 7 4 2 0 1 6 3.38 1.50
Ryan Mattheus 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 0 6.2 10 3 3 0 3 8 4.05 1.95
Henry Rodriguez 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 0 4.1 2 2 2 1 5 2 4.15 1.62
Gio Gonzalez 1-1 3 3 0 0 0 0 16.0 13 8 8 2 7 15 4.50 1.25
Rafael Soriano 0-0 6 0 0 0 5 1 6.0 7 4 4 2 1 6 6.00 1.33
Tyler Clippard 0-0 6 0 0 0 0 0 5.2 3 4 4 1 5 5 6.35 1.41
Craig Stammen 2-1 4 0 0 0 0 1 5.0 6 4 4 1 3 6 7.20 1.80
Dan Haren 1-1 2 2 0 0 0 0 9.0 19 9 9 4 0 10 9.00 2.11
Zach Duke 0-0 3 0 0 0 0 0 6.2 11 8 7 1 1 4 9.45 1.80

Washington Nationals Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Wilson Ramos hamstring 04/14/2013
Christian Garcia forearm 03/22/2013


MIAMI MARLINS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Chris Valaika 4 10 1 4 2 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 .400 .455 .600
Placido Polanco 11 42 3 14 2 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 .333 .378 .381
Jose Fernandez 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 .333 .333 .333
Donovan Solano 12 40 1 10 1 0 0 1 4 4 1 0 .250 .318 .275
Justin Ruggiano 10 35 3 8 3 0 1 4 3 3 3 0 .229 .289 .400
Greg Dobbs 11 35 3 8 1 0 1 4 3 5 0 0 .229 .300 .343
Adeiny Hechavarria 12 41 2 8 0 1 0 0 3 8 0 0 .195 .250 .244
Rob Brantly 9 31 0 6 3 0 0 2 3 8 0 0 .194 .257 .290
Juan Pierre 12 46 4 8 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 1 .174 .224 .174
Giancarlo Stanton 9 30 1 5 2 0 0 0 8 12 0 0 .167 .342 .233
Ricky Nolasco 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .167 .167 .167
Miguel Olivo 7 13 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 .154 .214 .154
Chris Coghlan 10 19 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 8 0 0 .105 .190 .105
Austin Kearns 7 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 .000 .231 .000
Casey Kotchman 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Wade LeBlanc 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Kevin Slowey 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 .000 .200 .000
Alex Sanabia 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Kyle Skipworth 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ryan Webb 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
A.J. Ramos 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
John Maine 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Mike Dunn 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Chad Qualls 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Steve Cishek 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jon Rauch 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000

Pitching

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
Jose Fernandez 0-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 11.0 5 1 1 0 3 13 0.82 .73
Kevin Slowey 0-2 3 3 0 0 0 0 17.2 19 4 4 2 5 11 2.04 1.36
Mike Dunn 0-0 7 0 0 0 0 0 6.1 5 2 2 1 3 6 2.84 1.26
Ricky Nolasco 0-1 3 3 0 0 0 0 17.1 16 6 6 2 6 9 3.12 1.27
Wade LeBlanc 0-2 2 2 0 0 0 0 11.0 11 5 4 1 3 10 3.27 1.27
John Maine 0-0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.0 5 1 1 0 0 2 4.50 2.50
Ryan Webb 0-1 4 0 0 0 0 0 5.2 3 5 3 0 5 1 4.76 1.41
Alex Sanabia 1-1 2 2 0 0 0 0 11.0 14 6 6 2 6 5 4.91 1.82
A.J. Ramos 0-0 6 0 0 0 0 1 6.2 7 4 4 1 4 9 5.40 1.65
Chad Qualls 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 0 5.2 8 4 4 2 2 4 6.35 1.76
Jon Rauch 0-2 5 0 0 0 0 0 5.2 6 4 4 1 2 4 6.35 1.41
Steve Cishek 1-1 5 0 0 0 0 1 4.1 4 4 4 0 1 5 8.31 1.15

Miami Marlins Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Nathan Eovaldi shoulder 03/24/2013
Casey Kotchman hamstring 04/04/2013
Joe Mahoney other-excused 03/22/2013
Henderson Alvarez shoulder 03/27/2013
Jeff Mathis other-excused 03/22/2013

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Jose Ceda elbow 03/22/2013
Logan Morrison knee 03/22/2013
Alfredo Silverio elbow 03/22/2013

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NL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 11 1 .916 0 Won 9
New York 7 4 .636 3.5 Won 2
Washington 7 5 .583 4 Lost 3
Philadelphia 6 6 .500 5 Won 1
Miami 2 10 .166 9 Lost 1

(updated 4.14.2013 at 9:40 PM EDT)


TEMPERATURE CHECK (Last 7 Days)

Who's Hot
Placido Polanco (MIA): 7/18 (.389/.450/.500), 2 RBI
Giancarlo Stanton (MIA): 1/12, 5 BB (.083/.353/.083), 5 K
Kurt Suzuki (WSH): 3/8 (.375/.583/1.000), 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB
Denard Span (WSH): 9/23 (.391/.481/.435), 6 R, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 SB

Who's Cold
Juan Pierre (MIA): 3/23 (.130/.200/.130), 2 K
Rob Brantly (MIA): 2/18 (.111/.150/.167), 1 RBI, 6 K
Chad Tracy (WSH): 0/7, 3 K
Danny Espinosa (WSH): 4/21 (.190/.227/.429), 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 K

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Detwiler vs Nolasco

Ross Detwiler is probably not a true number five starter, and Ricky Nolasco is probably not a true ace but this is a matchup that one paper leans Miami's way, but Detwiler has been the more successful pitcher this season. This rubber match could decide the series, and be important for Washington's momentum going forward.

Person Batting After Stanton vs Nationals Pitching

If you look at the Hot/Cold, I listed Stanton as Hot despite his 1/12 because of the five walks and his high on base percentage. However, that doesn't do the Marlins any good. Teams are pitching around Stanton and his current shoulder injury isn't helping anything. How can you stop someone from pitching around you? Have that person hit the ball well. Ryan Zimmerman makes sure no one pulls a Robin Ventura and intentionally walks Bryce Harper. There are studies that prove lineup protection has a minimal effect but in this Marlins lineup it's hard to prove that. If the Marlins cleanup hitter - whether it's Placido Polanco or someone else - is the only one who can make sure Stanton gets something to hit.

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