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Series Preview: Washington Nationals (20-17) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (15-21)

It is off to California for the Washington Nationals as they have their first prolonged road trip of the regular season. The first two stops aren't exactly hot beds for offense but maybe the warmer weather can help bring the bats around to where they need to be.

By Jared Book
Stephen Dunn

The Nationals get set to face the struggling and disappointing Los Angeles Dodgers for three games at Dodger Stadium. A pitcher's park isn't what the bats want to see, but they will have to get used to it for the next six games and then it's off to San Francisco which turns home runs away as well.

Probable Pitchers
Monday, 10:10 p.m.
WSH: Jordan Zimmermann (6-1, 1.59 ERA)
LAD: Josh Beckett (0-4, 5.13 ERA)

Tuesday, 10:10 p.m.
WSH: Dan Haren (4-3, 5.17 ERA)
DET: Clayton Kershaw (3-2, 1.62 ERA)

Wednesday, 10:10 p.m.
WSH: Ross Detwiler (2-3, 2.53 ERA)
LAD: TBA [Mike Magill made the start in this spot last turn in the rotation)

Projected Dodgers Lineup (via MLB Depth Charts)
LF Carl Crawford
SS Dee Gordon
1B Adrian Gonzalez
CF Matt Kemp
RF Andre Ethier
C A.J. Ellis
2B Skip Schumaker
3B Nick Punto

BENCH
C Tim Fedoerowicz
C Ramon Hernandez
1B/OF Scott Van Slyke
IF Luis Cruz
IF Juan Uribe

BULLPEN
RHP Brandon League
RHP Kenley Jansen
RHP Ronald Belisario
LHP Paco Rodriguez
RHP Matt Guerrier
LHP J.P. Howell
RHP Javy Guerra

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Bryce Harper 34 118 22 35 6 1 10 21 18 23 1 2 .297 .387 .619
Ian Desmond 37 142 19 42 13 2 6 17 5 36 4 1 .296 .315 .542
Denard Span 34 132 14 36 6 2 0 11 13 21 5 1 .273 .342 .348
Jayson Werth 27 100 17 26 2 0 4 10 6 21 2 0 .260 .308 .400
Ryan Zimmerman 23 81 10 20 3 2 1 13 12 24 2 0 .247 .347 .370
Kurt Suzuki 25 74 6 18 5 1 2 9 9 11 1 0 .243 .329 .419
Anthony Rendon 8 25 2 6 1 0 0 1 5 7 0 0 .240 .367 .280
Wilson Ramos 12 43 4 10 2 0 2 6 4 6 0 1 .233 .298 .419
Steve Lombardozzi 28 57 2 13 3 1 0 4 2 5 0 0 .228 .254 .316
Dan Haren 7 14 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 .214 .214 .286
Adam LaRoche 34 114 13 24 3 0 3 10 14 37 1 0 .211 .295 .316
Gio Gonzalez 8 10 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 .200 .273 .500
Danny Espinosa 31 111 10 21 9 0 3 12 3 26 1 0 .189 .222 .351
Jhonatan Solano 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .167
Tyler Moore 22 51 4 8 4 0 1 8 2 23 0 0 .157 .185 .294
Stephen Strasburg 8 14 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 .143 .143 .214
Chad Tracy 21 36 0 5 0 0 0 2 3 12 0 1 .139 .205 .139
Roger Bernadina 24 39 5 4 0 0 0 1 3 15 0 0 .103 .186 .103
Jordan Zimmermann 7 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 .063 .063 .063
Ross Detwiler 7 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 0 .000 .067 .000
Eury Perez 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Craig Stammen 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Drew Storen 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ryan Mattheus 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Tyler Clippard 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Rafael Soriano 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Henry Rodriguez 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Zach Duke 9 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
Jordan Zimmermann 6-1 7 7 2 1 0 0 51.0 33 9 9 2 9 34 1.59 .82
Rafael Soriano 0-1 17 0 0 0 12 1 17.0 13 5 4 2 3 14 2.12 .94
Ryan Mattheus 0-0 12 0 0 0 0 1 14.1 16 4 4 0 3 12 2.51 1.33
Ross Detwiler 2-3 7 7 0 0 0 0 42.2 50 14 12 3 8 23 2.53 1.36
Craig Stammen 2-1 10 0 0 0 0 1 17.0 13 5 5 1 5 19 2.65 1.06
Henry Rodriguez 0-0 11 0 0 0 0 0 11.2 7 4 4 1 9 9 3.09 1.37
Stephen Strasburg 1-5 8 8 0 0 0 0 49.1 43 25 17 5 15 51 3.10 1.18
Tyler Clippard 2-1 14 0 0 0 0 0 13.1 6 5 5 1 10 13 3.38 1.20
Gio Gonzalez 3-2 8 8 0 0 0 0 45.0 33 21 21 5 21 47 4.20 1.20
Drew Storen 0-0 13 0 0 0 0 2 13.1 19 9 7 2 1 13 4.72 1.50
Dan Haren 4-3 7 7 0 0 0 0 38.1 51 26 22 8 6 27 5.17 1.49
Zach Duke 0-0 9 0 0 0 0 0 15.0 22 16 14 2 4 10 8.40 1.73

Washington Nationals Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Jayson Werth ankle 05/03/2013


NL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 21 16 .567 0 Lost 3
Washington 20 17 .540 1 Lost 2
Philadelphia 18 21 .461 4 Won 2
New York 14 20 .411 5.5 Lost 3
Miami 11 27 .289 10.5 Lost 2

(updated 5.13.2013 at 2:24 PM EDT)


LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Hanley Ramirez 4 11 2 5 2 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 .455 .500 .909
Scott Van Slyke 2 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 .400 .400 1.000
Adrian Gonzalez 33 116 10 40 8 0 4 26 11 14 0 0 .345 .397 .517
Mark Ellis 20 73 10 25 2 0 2 11 2 14 1 0 .342 .362 .452
Nick Punto 28 68 11 23 4 0 1 8 12 17 1 0 .338 .432 .441
Elian Herrera 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333
Carl Crawford 34 127 24 40 5 1 5 9 10 18 7 2 .315 .379 .488
A.J. Ellis 29 102 6 30 6 0 2 10 18 20 0 0 .294 .400 .412
Juan Uribe 25 54 9 15 0 0 2 7 14 11 0 0 .278 .420 .389
Matt Kemp 36 137 15 38 7 0 1 14 11 37 5 0 .277 .329 .350
Dee Gordon 8 30 4 8 0 1 1 4 5 6 4 1 .267 .371 .433
Hyun-Jin Ryu 8 15 1 4 1 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 .267 .313 .333
Jerry Hairston 20 51 5 13 2 0 1 5 3 4 0 0 .255 .304 .353
Andre Ethier 35 126 10 32 7 0 3 11 16 25 0 1 .254 .340 .381
Zack Greinke 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .250 .400 .250
Justin Sellers 26 68 6 13 1 0 1 2 5 19 0 0 .191 .267 .250
Skip Schumaker 31 63 8 12 4 0 0 5 11 9 1 0 .190 .320 .254
Clayton Kershaw 9 18 2 3 1 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 .167 .211 .389
Josh Beckett 7 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 .125 .222 .125
Tim Federowicz 6 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .091 .167 .091
Luis Cruz 26 68 3 6 0 0 0 2 1 12 0 0 .088 .113 .088
Ramon Hernandez 8 22 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 .045 .125 .091
Chris Capuano 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Chad Billingsley 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Matt Magill 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ted Lilly 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000
J.P. Howell 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Matt Guerrier 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Kenley Jansen 19 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Brandon League 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Javy Guerra 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ronald Belisario 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Paco Rodriguez 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Stephen Fife 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Josh Wall 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Shawn Tolleson 1 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
Skip Schumaker 0-0 31 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 3.00
Shawn Tolleson 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 .00
Zack Greinke 1-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 11.1 7 2 2 0 1 10 1.59 .71
Clayton Kershaw 3-2 9 8 1 1 0 0 55.2 34 13 10 4 16 56 1.62 .90
Kenley Jansen 1-1 19 0 0 0 1 0 19.2 13 5 5 2 5 27 2.29 .92
Paco Rodriguez 0-1 19 0 0 0 0 1 14.1 6 4 4 0 3 16 2.51 .63
Chad Billingsley 1-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 12.0 12 4 4 1 5 6 3.00 1.42
Matt Guerrier 1-1 15 0 0 0 0 1 14.0 10 6 5 2 6 4 3.21 1.14
Hyun-Jin Ryu 4-2 8 8 0 0 0 0 50.1 46 21 19 5 15 51 3.40 1.21
J.P. Howell 1-0 15 0 0 0 0 0 15.0 13 6 6 0 7 12 3.60 1.33
Ronald Belisario 2-4 18 0 0 0 0 1 17.1 19 8 8 1 9 16 4.15 1.62
Josh Beckett 0-4 7 7 1 0 0 0 40.1 47 26 23 8 13 36 5.13 1.49
Ted Lilly 0-1 2 2 0 0 0 0 8.0 14 6 5 2 4 9 5.63 2.25
Brandon League 0-2 14 0 0 0 8 1 14.1 16 11 10 3 4 7 6.28 1.40
Chris Capuano 1-2 5 3 0 0 0 1 15.0 20 12 11 3 6 13 6.60 1.73
Matt Magill 0-0 3 3 0 0 0 0 13.0 13 10 10 1 10 11 6.92 1.77
Stephen Fife 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.2 7 4 4 1 1 5 7.71 1.71
Javy Guerra 0-0 4 0 0 0 0 0 5.0 9 5 5 1 3 6 9.00 2.40
Josh Wall 0-1 6 0 0 0 0 0 7.0 17 14 14 2 6 7 18.00 3.29


Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Scott Elbert elbow 03/22/2013
Shawn Tolleson back 04/13/2013
Stephen Fife shoulder 04/22/2013
Ted Lilly abdomen 04/30/2013
Hanley Ramirez hamstring 05/04/2013

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Chad Billingsley elbow 04/16/2013


NL West Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
San Francisco 23 15 .605 0 Won 3
Arizona 21 17 .552 2 Lost 2
Colorado 20 17 .540 2.5 Won 1
San Diego 16 21 .432 6.5 Lost 3
Los Angeles 15 21 .416 7 Won 2

(updated 5.13.2013 at 2:25 PM EDT)


TEMPERATURE CHECK (Last 7 Days)

Who's Hot

For the Dodgers, the final three hitters (Ellis, Schumaker and Punto) in the batting order all have OBP's over .400 over the last 7 days as does Juan Uribe. There's also no one who's particularly cold in the Dodgers lineup.


Adam LaRoche (WSH): 8/19 (.421), 8 1B, 1 RBI
Ian Desmond (WSH): 7/18 (.389/.450/.833), 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI

Who's Cold

Like I mentioned, not really any regulars for the Dodgers, although Andre Ethier has an OBP of .292 over the last 7 days while hitting 6/22.


For the Nationals, it's a mixed bag. Tyler Moore is 1 for his last 12. Bryce Harper is 1/9. Danny Espinosa is 4/19 and Steve Lombardozzi is 1/6. Wilson Ramos is 0/7 which really highlights the Nationals struggling offense over the last two games against the Chicago Cubs.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

2013 vs. History at Dodger Stadium

Since moving to Washington, the Nationals are only 5-18 in Dodger Stadium. This isn't even a recent phenomenon. Historically, the Expos/Nationals are 75-144 in Los Angeles. Of course, there were positives in the stadium, like Dennis Martinez's perfect game in 1991. However, they are far and few between. Even since 2010, they are only 2-7. If the Nationals expect to get back on the winning track they have a lot of history to overcome. Even last year they were swept in Los Angeles, scoring five runs over the three games.

Dan Haren vs Clayton Kershaw

Last time out, Haren was facing off against Doug Fister who had yet to lose this season and had an ERA under 3. This time he faces one of the best starters in the National League in Clayton Kershaw who has lost twice but has an ERA under 2. Haren has been winning games lately even though he hasn't been dominant. On Tuesday night, he may not have that luxury.

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