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Series Preview: Washington Nationals (9-6) @ New York Mets (7-7)

This Washington Nationals vs New York Mets series starts off with a bang with Matt Harvey vs Stephen Strasburg and the rest of the top of the Nationals rotation - Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann - look to get the Nats creeping back to the division-leading Atlanta Braves.

By Jared Book
Jeff Zelevansky

The New York Mets weren't expected to be contending this season, but they found themselves ahead of the Washington Nationals and in second place in the division before the teams started their week. After the Nationals beat the Marlins, and the Mets lost their series to the Colorado Rockies, order seems to be restored but the Mets are still hanging around .500 despite missing their two top starting pitchers in Johan Santana and Shaun Marcum.

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

Probable Pitchers
Friday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Stephen Strasburg (1-2, 2.95 ERA)
NYM: Matt Harvey (3-0, 0.82 ERA)

Saturday, 3:05 p.m.
WSH: Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
NYM: Jeremy Hefner (0-2, 6.00 ERA)

Sunday 1:10 p.m.
WSH: Jordan Zimmermann (3-0, 2.45 ERA)
NYM: Dillon Gee (0-3, 8.36 ERA)

Projected Mets Lineup (via MLB Depth Charts)
1. CF Jordany Valdespin (v RHP)
2. 2B Daniel Murphy
3. 3B David Wright
4. 1B Ike Davis
5. C John Buck
6. LF Lucas Duda
7. RF Marlon Byrd
8. SS Ruben Tejada

Mets Bench
C Anthony Recker
IF/OF Justin Turner
OF Mike Baxter
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
OF Collin Cowgill (CF vs LHP)

Mets Bullpen
RHP Bobby Parnell
RHP Brandon Lyon
RHP Scott Atchison
LHP Josh Edgin
RHP LaTroy Hawkins
LHP Scott Rice
RHP Jeurys Familia

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
Steve Lombardozzi 9 21 2 8 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 .381 .409 .524
Bryce Harper 14 55 10 20 2 0 5 11 5 11 1 1 .364 .417 .673
Kurt Suzuki 10 25 5 9 3 1 2 5 6 5 0 0 .360 .485 .800
Denard Span 13 48 9 15 2 0 0 5 9 5 2 1 .313 .421 .354
Ian Desmond 15 58 8 18 7 1 2 3 1 13 2 0 .310 .317 .569
Wilson Ramos 6 20 3 6 0 0 2 3 3 1 0 1 .300 .391 .600
Jayson Werth 15 59 11 17 1 0 3 8 2 12 2 0 .288 .323 .458
Ryan Zimmerman 15 53 3 12 2 1 1 11 7 14 0 0 .226 .311 .358
Dan Haren 3 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .200 .200 .400
Adam LaRoche 12 41 4 8 1 0 2 5 4 11 0 0 .195 .267 .366
Danny Espinosa 12 40 5 7 4 0 1 3 2 6 0 0 .175 .233 .350
Tyler Moore 10 18 2 3 2 0 0 4 0 8 0 0 .167 .167 .278
Chad Tracy 9 15 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 .133 .188 .133
Roger Bernadina 8 13 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 0 0 .000 .071 .000
Ross Detwiler 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 .000 .125 .000
Jordan Zimmermann 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Stephen Strasburg 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jhonatan Solano 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Craig Stammen 5 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 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Tyler Clippard 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Rafael Soriano 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Henry Rodriguez 6 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 1-0 3 3 0 0 0 0 20.0 17 3 2 1 3 11 0.90 1.00
Jordan Zimmermann 3-0 3 3 1 0 0 0 22.0 21 6 6 1 3 11 2.45 1.09
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 6 0 0 0 0 0 7.2 10 3 3 0 3 8 3.52 1.70
Gio Gonzalez 1-1 3 3 0 0 0 0 16.0 13 8 8 2 7 15 4.50 1.25
Henry Rodriguez 0-0 6 0 0 0 0 0 5.1 4 3 3 1 5 2 5.06 1.69
Rafael Soriano 0-0 7 0 0 0 5 1 7.0 7 4 4 2 1 8 5.14 1.14
Tyler Clippard 0-0 7 0 0 0 0 0 6.2 3 4 4 1 5 6 5.40 1.20
Craig Stammen 2-1 5 0 0 0 0 1 6.2 8 4 4 1 3 7 5.40 1.65
Dan Haren 1-2 3 3 0 0 0 0 13.1 26 16 12 5 1 12 8.10 2.03
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

Probable

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Ryan Zimmerman hamstring 04/18/2013

Questionable

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Danny Espinosa wrist 04/18/2013
Denard Span other-excused 04/18/2013

15-Day

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


NEW YORK METS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Justin Turner 7 20 2 9 2 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .450 .450 .550
Jordany Valdespin 12 31 7 11 1 1 0 2 2 5 2 1 .355 .412 .452
Daniel Murphy 14 54 15 19 7 1 2 11 4 7 0 0 .352 .390 .630
Jon Niese 4 6 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 .333 .429 .333
David Wright 14 52 11 17 3 1 2 14 11 10 4 0 .327 .444 .538
John Buck 14 50 10 15 1 0 6 19 1 6 0 0 .300 .302 .680
Lucas Duda 13 36 8 10 2 0 3 6 11 11 0 0 .278 .469 .583
Marlon Byrd 12 45 6 12 2 1 1 10 2 13 0 0 .267 .306 .422
Ruben Tejada 14 52 6 13 4 0 0 6 5 6 1 0 .250 .328 .327
Dillon Gee 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250 .250 .250
Mike Baxter 12 22 5 5 1 0 0 0 6 4 1 0 .227 .393 .273
Collin Cowgill 11 36 5 7 1 0 2 6 0 8 0 0 .194 .194 .389
Matt Harvey 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .167 .167 .167
Ike Davis 13 48 6 7 0 0 1 3 7 13 0 0 .146 .255 .208
Anthony Recker 4 7 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 .143 .333 .286
Kirk Nieuwenhuis 10 15 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 .133 .188 .200
Aaron Laffey 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jeremy Hefner 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jeurys Familia 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
LaTroy Hawkins 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Josh Edgin 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Greg Burke 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Bobby Parnell 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Scott Rice 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Brandon Lyon 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Scott Atchison 7 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
Matt Harvey 3-0 3 3 0 0 0 0 22.0 6 2 2 1 6 25 0.82 .55
Scott Rice 1-0 8 0 0 0 0 0 7.0 5 2 1 0 5 4 1.29 1.43
Brandon Lyon 1-0 6 0 0 0 0 0 4.2 3 2 1 0 0 4 1.93 .64
Bobby Parnell 0-0 5 0 0 0 1 1 4.2 3 1 1 0 0 7 1.93 .64
Jon Niese 2-1 4 4 0 0 0 0 23.2 26 12 10 2 9 13 3.80 1.48
Aaron Laffey 0-0 3 2 0 0 0 0 9.1 14 5 5 0 4 9 4.82 1.93
Scott Atchison 0-0 7 0 0 0 0 0 7.1 6 4 4 0 2 3 4.91 1.09
LaTroy Hawkins 0-0 7 0 0 0 0 0 5.1 11 6 4 1 0 5 6.75 2.06
Jeremy Hefner 0-2 3 2 0 0 0 0 10.0 13 8 8 5 5 6 7.20 1.80
Greg Burke 0-1 7 0 0 0 0 0 7.1 10 9 6 0 3 7 7.36 1.77
Dillon Gee 0-3 3 3 0 0 0 0 14.0 20 13 13 4 5 8 8.36 1.79
Josh Edgin 0-0 8 0 0 0 0 1 6.2 8 7 7 0 4 5 9.45 1.80
Jeurys Familia 0-0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 3 2 2 0 2 0 27.00 7.50


New York Mets Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Jenrry Mejia elbow 03/22/2013
Shaun Marcum neck 03/22/2013
Frank Francisco elbow 04/01/2013

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Johan Santana shoulder 03/22/2013


NL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 13 2 .866 0 Won 1
Washington 9 6 .600 4 Won 1
New York 7 7 .500 5.5 Lost 3
Philadelphia 6 10 .375 7.5 Lost 4
Miami 3 13 .187 10.5 Lost 2

(updated 4.19.2013 at 1:00 AM EDT)


TEMPERATURE CHECK (Last 7 Days)

Who's Hot
David Wright (NYM): 9/20 (.450/.542/.900), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2 K
Daniel Murphy (NYM): 9/21 (.429/.435/.619), 4 2B, 5 RBI, 3 K
Kurt Suzuki (WSH): 6/15 (.400/.474/.800), 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 K
Steve Lombardozzi (WSH): 7/17 (.412/.412/.529), 2 2B, 3 RBI

Who's Cold
John Buck (NYM): 3/18 (.167/.167/.333), 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
Mike Baxter (NYM): 1/11 (.091/.167/.091), 1 K
Roger Bernadina (WSH): 0/12, 5 K
Ryan Zimmerman (WSH): 5/24 (.208/.240/.333), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 K

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Strasburg vs Harvey

This may just be the best pitching matchup the Nationals have seen to date, with maybe Cueto vs Strasburg inching ahead. Harvey and Strasburg are both very similar and Harvey's start to his career probably is as successful as Strasburg's was but is definitely more surprising. Harvey was thought of as a top prospect, but no one figured he would be this good this quick and has been compared to Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden since making his debut late last year.

Zimmerman vs Wright

I mentioned this in the talk with Amazin' Avenue, but I always considered Wright and Zimmerman to be linked due to their position, when they came up, and the teams they play for. While Wright is off to a pretty good start after battling an injury in Spring Training, Zimmerman has struggled lately both at the plate and in the field. Zimmerman doesn't have to be the focal point of the offense like Wright does with the Mets, but if the battle of the third basemen leans too heavily in New York's favor, that may indicate who will come out on top during the series.

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