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Series Preview: Washington Nationals (23-21) @ San Francisco Giants (24-20)

Well it didn't seem like it, but the Washington Nationals came away with a split against the San Diego Padres. However, they come into San Francisco with a two game losing streak and Zach Duke making his first start of the season.

By Jared Book
Beck Diefenbach-US PRESSWIRE

The San Francisco Giants have struggled where normally they are strong. Their pitching has not been to the level they have needed it to be or it has been in the past and as a result have a very similar record to the Nationals. The Washington Nationals have had some push back from Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman but really feel the absence of Bryce Harper because of two major factors: Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore struggling and Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa really struggling lately. The combination of that and some mistakes on the mound and in the basepaths pretty much gave that split to the Padres.

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, 10:15 p.m.
WSH: Zach Duke (0-0, 8.40 ERA)
SF: Ryan Vogelsong (1-4, 8.06 ERA)

Tuesday, 10:15 p.m.
WSH: Stephen Strasburg (2-5, 2.83 ERA)
SF: Matt Cain (3-2, 5.43 ERA)

Wednesday, 10:15 p.m.
WSH: Gio Gonzalez (3-2, 4.01 ERA)
SF: Madison Bumgarner (4-2, 3.09 ERA)

Projected Giants Lineup (via MLB Depth Charts)
CF Angel Pagan
2B Marco Scutaro
3B Pablo Sandoval
C Buster Posey
RF Hunter Pence
1B Brandon Belt
LF Gregor Blanco vs RHP
SS Brandon Crawford

BENCH
C Guillermo Quiroz
IF Joaquin Arias
IF Nick Noonan
OF Andres Torres LF vs LHP

BULLPEN
RHP Sergio Romo
RHP Santiago Casilla
LHP Jeremy Affeldt
LHP Javier Lopez
RHP George Kontos
LHP Jose Mijares
RHP Jean Machi
RHP Chad Gaudin

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Bryce Harper 38 128 26 38 6 1 11 22 21 25 1 2 .297 .393 .617
Ryan Zimmerman 30 107 14 30 4 2 3 22 15 29 3 0 .280 .371 .439
Ian Desmond 43 164 19 44 13 2 6 17 8 42 4 1 .268 .299 .482
Denard Span 41 159 17 42 6 2 0 11 16 25 5 2 .264 .335 .327
Jayson Werth 27 100 17 26 2 0 4 10 6 21 2 0 .260 .308 .400
Kurt Suzuki 31 94 8 24 5 1 2 9 11 14 2 0 .255 .336 .394
Wilson Ramos 14 48 4 12 3 0 2 6 4 8 0 1 .250 .308 .438
Anthony Rendon 8 25 2 6 1 0 0 1 5 7 0 0 .240 .367 .280
Steve Lombardozzi 35 86 7 20 4 1 0 6 3 11 0 2 .233 .258 .302
Adam LaRoche 41 140 17 32 3 0 7 20 17 47 1 0 .229 .310 .400
Chad Tracy 23 38 1 7 0 0 1 3 3 12 0 2 .184 .244 .263
Dan Haren 9 18 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 9 0 0 .167 .167 .222
Gio Gonzalez 9 12 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 .167 .231 .417
Jhonatan Solano 4 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .167 .286 .167
Danny Espinosa 37 135 10 22 9 0 3 12 3 38 1 0 .163 .191 .296
Jordan Zimmermann 9 20 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 .150 .190 .150
Roger Bernadina 29 53 5 7 0 1 0 1 4 19 1 0 .132 .207 .170
Tyler Moore 26 63 4 8 4 0 1 8 2 27 0 0 .127 .152 .238
Stephen Strasburg 9 17 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 .118 .118 .176
Ross Detwiler 8 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 0 .000 .067 .000
Eury Perez 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Craig Stammen 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Drew Storen 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ryan Mattheus 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Tyler Clippard 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Rafael Soriano 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Henry Rodriguez 12 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 7-2 9 9 3 1 0 0 66.2 49 13 12 3 9 45 1.62 .87
Rafael Soriano 1-1 19 0 0 0 12 2 19.0 17 7 4 2 3 15 1.89 1.05
Craig Stammen 2-1 11 0 0 0 0 1 20.0 15 5 5 1 5 22 2.25 1.00
Ross Detwiler 2-4 8 8 0 0 0 0 45.2 56 16 14 3 10 23 2.76 1.45
Tyler Clippard 2-1 17 0 0 0 0 0 16.0 6 5 5 1 11 16 2.81 1.06
Stephen Strasburg 2-5 9 9 0 0 0 0 57.1 46 27 18 5 18 55 2.83 1.12
Henry Rodriguez 0-0 12 0 0 0 0 0 12.2 7 4 4 1 10 10 2.84 1.34
Gio Gonzalez 3-2 9 9 0 0 0 0 51.2 39 24 23 6 24 52 4.01 1.22
Drew Storen 0-0 17 0 0 0 1 2 17.1 24 11 9 3 3 16 4.67 1.56
Ryan Mattheus 0-0 14 0 0 0 0 1 16.1 20 9 9 0 5 12 4.96 1.53
Dan Haren 4-5 9 9 0 0 0 0 50.1 64 35 31 10 8 36 5.54 1.43
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

Questionable

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Bryce Harper knee 05/20/2013

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Jayson Werth ankle 05/03/2013
Wilson Ramos hamstring 05/16/2013
Christian Garcia forearm 03/22/2013

OUT

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Ross Detwiler back 05/20/2013


NL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 25 18 .581 0 Won 3
Washington 23 21 .522 2.5 Lost 2
Philadelphia 21 23 .477 4.5 Won 1
New York 17 24 .414 7 Won 1
Miami 12 32 .272 13.5 Won 1

(updated 5.20.2013 at 12:02 PM EDT)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Brett Pill 3 6 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .286 .667
Marco Scutaro 40 163 24 54 10 2 1 10 12 12 0 0 .331 .375 .436
Pablo Sandoval 43 172 23 52 7 0 7 32 10 18 0 0 .302 .342 .465
Buster Posey 41 136 19 40 11 1 6 27 22 21 0 0 .294 .396 .522
Hunter Pence 44 176 26 51 12 2 7 23 10 35 8 0 .290 .326 .500
Brandon Crawford 43 153 23 44 9 2 5 22 14 32 0 1 .288 .353 .471
Barry Zito 9 14 2 4 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 .286 .286 .286
Gregor Blanco 35 111 11 31 6 1 0 15 12 22 4 2 .279 .344 .351
Angel Pagan 41 164 27 42 8 1 2 18 13 22 6 3 .256 .307 .354
Nick Noonan 25 41 5 10 1 0 0 3 2 10 0 0 .244 .279 .268
Brandon Belt 42 133 18 32 8 0 5 21 14 34 2 0 .241 .313 .414
Joaquin Arias 32 35 4 8 0 0 0 3 2 6 0 0 .229 .289 .229
Andres Torres 32 76 10 17 4 0 1 4 4 17 2 1 .224 .263 .316
Guillermo Quiroz 14 28 2 6 3 0 1 3 3 8 0 0 .214 .313 .429
Francisco Peguero 6 16 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .188 .188 .250
Madison Bumgarner 9 16 2 3 0 0 0 1 2 6 0 0 .188 .278 .188
Hector Sanchez 11 20 2 3 0 0 0 1 3 7 0 0 .150 .261 .150
Matt Cain 9 14 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 6 0 0 .143 .143 .143
Ryan Vogelsong 8 13 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 6 0 0 .077 .143 .077
Tim Lincecum 9 16 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 12 0 0 .063 .118 .063
Chad Gaudin 14 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Javier Lopez 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jose Mijares 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Sergio Romo 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jeremy Affeldt 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Santiago Casilla 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
George Kontos 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Sandy Rosario 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jean Machi 10 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
Sandy Rosario 1-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .00
Jose Mijares 0-0 16 0 0 0 0 0 14.2 19 3 3 1 7 16 1.84 1.77
Santiago Casilla 3-2 20 0 0 0 1 0 18.0 10 5 4 1 12 16 2.00 1.22
Chad Gaudin 0-1 14 0 0 0 0 0 25.2 20 6 6 1 10 24 2.10 1.17
Jean Machi 1-0 10 0 0 0 0 0 12.1 13 3 3 0 3 12 2.19 1.30
Jeremy Affeldt 0-0 13 0 0 0 0 1 10.1 10 3 3 0 7 5 2.61 1.65
Javier Lopez 1-0 18 0 0 0 0 0 10.1 12 5 3 0 3 10 2.61 1.45
Sergio Romo 2-2 21 0 0 0 13 2 18.0 15 6 6 1 3 21 3.00 1.00
Madison Bumgarner 4-2 9 9 0 0 0 0 58.1 45 22 20 5 15 58 3.09 1.03
Barry Zito 3-3 9 9 0 0 0 0 50.2 62 30 22 3 16 31 3.91 1.54
Tim Lincecum 3-3 9 9 0 0 0 0 53.2 51 30 28 6 25 56 4.70 1.42
Matt Cain 3-2 9 9 0 0 0 0 56.1 51 35 34 13 17 49 5.43 1.21
George Kontos 2-1 23 0 0 0 0 1 23.1 24 15 15 3 8 22 5.79 1.37
Ryan Vogelsong 1-4 8 8 0 0 0 0 41.1 59 44 37 11 17 38 8.06 1.84

San Francisco Giants Injuries

Questionable

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Angel Pagan other-excused 05/20/2013

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Eric Surkamp elbow 03/22/2013
Tony Abreu quadriceps 03/22/2013


NL West Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Arizona 25 19 .568 0 Lost 1
Colorado 24 20 .545 1 Won 3
San Francisco 24 20 .545 1 Lost 3
San Diego 20 23 .465 4.5 Won 2
Los Angeles 17 25 .404 7 Lost 3

(updated 5.20.2013 at 12:04 PM EDT)


TEMPERATURE CHECK (Last 7 Days)

Who's Hot

Marco Scutaro (SF): 11/22 (.500/.542/.500), 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford are also hitting the ball well for the Giants. Pence is 8/23 and Crawford - known more for his glove - is 8/24 with 5 RBI in the last week.


Adam LaRoche (WSH): 8/26 (.308/.379/.769), 4 HR, 10 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman (WSH): 10/26 (.385/.446/.654), 2 HR, 9 RBI

Who's Cold

The Giants have some key players struggling as well. Pablo Sandoval is hitting .200/.222/.360 over his last 25 at bats (five hits) with only one homerun. Gregor Blanco (5/21) and Angel Pagan (6/25) are also struggling. Pagan also has a .269 on base percentage so it's fair to say that leadoff men for both teams are struggling right now.


For the Nationals, the biggest struggles come from the middle of the infield. Ian Desmond is 2/22 (.091) with 3 BB and 6 K. Danny Espinosa is struggling to get hits and even just hitting the ball hard. He is 1/24 (.042) with no extra base hits, no walks and 12 K. You have to wonder if he is hurting the team more than helping with his injured shoulder.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Nationals Offense vs Giants left-handed pitchers

The Nationals were struggling against left-handed pitchers even before going against Eric Stults. In this series, they get Madison Bumgarner but the Giants also have four three left-handed relievers in their bullpen. If the Nationals don't start going against left-handed pitchers they will have a very hard time to win a game in this series, let alone the series. The Nationals as a team are hitting .194/.267/.291 against left-handed pitching this season.

Stephen Strasburg vs Matt Cain

This is perhaps one of the best pitching matchups on paper since Strasburg-Harvey. Both have had struggles this year, but both have the potential to be devastating against offenses, and let's face it. Neither team is going up against the 1927 Yankees.

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