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Series Preview: Washington Nationals (26-24) vs Baltimore Orioles (27-23)

A rare home-and-home series with two games with the geographic rivals in Baltimore over this holiday week. The Washington Nationals and Orioles start a four-game, two-city series in D.C. today.

By Jared Book
Greg Fiume

The Baltimore Orioles were kings of the one-run game last year, but so far this year seem to be continuing their success despite what many experts thought. Led by Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Adam Jones, these Orioles can score runs and are only 3.5 games back of the American League East lead.

Probable Pitchers

Monday, 1:05 p.m.

WSH: Gio Gonzalez (3-2, 3.66 ERA)

BAL: Jason Hammel (6-2, 5.37 ERA)

Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.

WSH: TBA [Probably Zach Duke or Craig Stammen]
BAL: Kevin Gausman (0-1, 7.20 ERA)

Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. (in Baltimore)

WSH: Jordan Zimmermann (8-2, 1.71 ERA)
BAL: Chris Tillman (4-2, 3.68 ERA)
Thursday, 7:05 p.m. (in Baltimore)
WSH: Dan Haren (4-5, 5.43 ERA)
BAL: Freddy Garcia (1-2, 4.61 ERA)

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Zach Duke 10 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000
Bryce Harper 44 150 29 43 7 1 12 23 25 30 2 2 .287 .386 .587
Denard Span 47 187 19 51 8 2 0 13 16 29 6 3 .273 .333 .337
Ryan Zimmerman 36 129 17 35 5 2 3 23 19 34 3 0 .271 .367 .411
Jayson Werth 27 100 17 26 2 0 4 10 6 21 2 0 .260 .308 .400
Ian Desmond 49 185 19 48 14 2 6 20 10 47 5 1 .259 .293 .454
Wilson Ramos 14 48 4 12 3 0 2 6 4 8 0 1 .250 .308 .438
Kurt Suzuki 35 109 9 27 5 1 2 10 12 18 2 0 .248 .325 .367
Steve Lombardozzi 40 103 9 25 6 1 0 10 3 12 0 2 .243 .264 .320
Anthony Rendon 8 25 2 6 1 0 0 1 5 7 0 0 .240 .367 .280
Adam LaRoche 47 162 21 38 5 1 8 23 20 53 1 0 .235 .317 .426
Gio Gonzalez 10 14 1 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 .214 .267 .429
Chad Tracy 27 42 1 8 0 0 1 3 3 14 0 2 .190 .244 .262
Stephen Strasburg 11 23 1 4 2 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 .174 .174 .261
Danny Espinosa 39 141 10 23 9 0 3 12 4 40 1 0 .163 .196 .291
Jhonatan Solano 6 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 .154 .214 .154
Dan Haren 10 20 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 11 0 0 .150 .150 .200
Tyler Moore 31 75 6 11 4 0 1 9 6 28 0 0 .147 .207 .240
Jordan Zimmermann 10 23 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 .130 .167 .130
Roger Bernadina 35 62 5 7 0 1 0 1 4 22 1 0 .113 .191 .145
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 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 .500 .000
Drew Storen 19 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 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Rafael Soriano 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Henry Rodriguez 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Fernando Abad 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jeff Kobernus 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Yunesky Maya 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
Fernando Abad 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 1.00
Jordan Zimmermann 8-2 10 10 3 1 0 0 73.2 55 15 14 3 9 46 1.71 .87
Tyler Clippard 3-1 21 0 0 0 0 0 20.0 7 5 5 1 11 21 2.25 .90
Stephen Strasburg 3-5 11 11 0 0 0 0 72.1 56 29 20 5 21 71 2.49 1.06
Ross Detwiler 2-4 8 8 0 0 0 0 45.2 56 16 14 3 10 23 2.76 1.45
Craig Stammen 2-1 12 0 0 0 0 1 22.2 22 7 7 2 5 23 2.78 1.19
Rafael Soriano 1-1 22 0 0 0 14 3 22.0 20 8 7 2 4 16 2.86 1.09
Henry Rodriguez 0-0 14 0 0 0 0 0 15.2 10 6 6 1 13 10 3.45 1.47
Gio Gonzalez 3-2 10 10 0 0 0 0 59.0 43 25 24 6 26 57 3.66 1.17
Ryan Mattheus 0-0 14 0 0 0 0 1 16.1 20 9 9 0 5 12 4.96 1.53
Drew Storen 0-1 19 0 0 0 1 3 19.0 27 13 11 3 5 17 5.21 1.68
Dan Haren 4-5 10 10 0 0 0 0 56.1 68 38 34 12 9 46 5.43 1.37
Zach Duke 0-1 10 1 0 0 0 0 18.1 29 20 18 2 4 11 8.84 1.80
Yunesky Maya 0-1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 2 2 2 1 0 0 54.00 6.00

Washington Nationals Injuries

Doubtful

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Danny Espinosa wrist 05/27/2013
Bryce Harper knee 05/27/2013

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Jayson Werth ankle 05/03/2013
Ross Detwiler back 05/16/2013
Ryan Mattheus hand 05/20/2013

NL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 30 19 .612 0 Lost 1
Washington 26 24 .520 4.5 Won 1
Philadelphia 24 26 .480 6.5 Lost 1
New York 18 29 .382 11 Won 1
Miami 13 37 .260 17.5 Lost 5

(updated 5.27.2013 at 12:52 PM EDT)



BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Projected Orioles Lineup (via MLB Depth Charts)
LF Nate McLouth vs RHP
3B Manny Machado
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
1B Chris Davis
C Matt Wieters

SS J.J. Hardy

DH Chris Dickerson vs RHP

2B Yamaico Navarro

BENCH
C Chris Snyder

1B/OF Steve Pearce starts vs LHP
IF Alexi Casilla
IF/OF Danny Valencia starts vs LHP

BULLPEN

RHP Jim Johnson

RHP Darren O'Day

LHP Brian Matusz
RHP Tommy Hunter
LHP Troy Patton
LHP T.J. McFarland
RHP Steve Johnson

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Brian Roberts 3 12 1 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 .417 .417 .500
Chris Davis 49 172 33 58 18 0 16 46 28 48 0 0 .337 .432 .721
Manny Machado 50 219 34 72 22 2 5 28 10 31 4 2 .329 .358 .516
Chris Dickerson 18 43 8 14 2 0 3 8 1 10 2 1 .326 .341 .581
Adam Jones 50 211 38 68 16 0 10 34 8 43 8 0 .322 .353 .540
Nick Markakis 50 207 30 63 11 0 5 27 18 18 0 2 .304 .358 .430
Yamaico Navarro 6 20 2 6 0 1 0 0 2 5 0 0 .300 .364 .400
Nate McLouth 43 159 34 46 9 1 4 11 21 20 15 1 .289 .372 .434
J.J. Hardy 50 197 21 47 10 0 9 31 8 24 0 1 .239 .267 .426
Danny Valencia 5 21 3 5 2 0 2 5 1 4 0 0 .238 .273 .619
Matt Wieters 46 165 18 39 12 0 7 29 17 33 1 0 .236 .303 .436
Steve Pearce 17 53 4 12 3 0 2 7 6 8 1 0 .226 .328 .396
Alexi Casilla 25 58 5 11 2 0 0 1 3 10 5 0 .190 .226 .224
Nolan Reimold 31 101 14 19 2 0 4 9 10 30 0 1 .188 .257 .327
Chris Snyder 5 14 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 .143 .250 .143
Ryan Flaherty 30 90 8 12 3 0 2 6 9 26 1 0 .133 .228 .233
Taylor Teagarden 4 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Chris Tillman 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Zach Clark 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Tommy Hunter 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Pedro Strop 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Zach Britton 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Freddy Garcia 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Kevin Gausman 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
T.J. McFarland 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Miguel Gonzalez 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Brian Matusz 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Luis Ayala 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Wei-Yin Chen 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Alex Burnett 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Steve Johnson 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jake Arrieta 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jair Jurrjens 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Darren O`Day 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jim Johnson 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Troy Patton 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jason Hammel 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Josh Stinson 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
Tommy Hunter 3-1 18 0 0 0 1 0 29.0 23 7 6 5 5 20 1.86 .97
Darren O`Day 2-0 24 0 0 0 1 2 23.0 18 6 5 2 9 25 1.96 1.17
Wei-Yin Chen 3-3 8 8 0 0 0 0 47.1 45 16 16 3 12 27 3.04 1.20
Brian Matusz 1-0 24 0 0 0 0 2 20.0 10 7 7 2 6 21 3.15 .80
T.J. McFarland 0-0 11 0 0 0 0 0 22.2 26 10 8 1 9 23 3.18 1.54
Chris Tillman 4-2 10 10 0 0 0 0 58.2 57 24 24 10 21 48 3.68 1.33
Miguel Gonzalez 2-2 8 8 0 0 0 0 48.0 45 23 21 6 17 34 3.94 1.29
Freddy Garcia 1-2 5 5 0 0 0 0 27.1 27 15 14 7 6 9 4.61 1.21
Troy Patton 1-0 19 0 0 0 0 1 20.2 21 13 11 3 12 10 4.79 1.60
Jim Johnson 2-5 25 0 0 0 15 4 24.0 26 15 14 3 7 19 5.25 1.38
Jason Hammel 6-2 10 10 0 0 0 0 57.0 65 37 34 8 22 42 5.37 1.53
Pedro Strop 0-2 22 0 0 0 0 2 17.2 14 13 12 3 14 17 6.11 1.58
Jake Arrieta 1-1 4 4 0 0 0 0 19.0 15 14 14 1 16 20 6.63 1.63
Kevin Gausman 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 7 4 4 1 2 5 7.20 1.80
Jair Jurrjens 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.0 6 4 4 1 1 5 7.20 1.40
Josh Stinson 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.2 5 5 5 4 1 3 7.94 1.06
Luis Ayala 1-0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2.0 4 2 2 1 0 2 9.00 2.00
Zach Britton 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 0 6.0 10 6 6 1 2 2 9.00 2.00
Steve Johnson 0-1 2 1 0 0 0 0 6.2 10 8 8 0 5 8 10.80 2.25
Zach Clark 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 3 3 3 0 2 1 16.20 3.00
Alex Burnett 0-0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1.1 4 3 3 0 2 2 20.25 4.50


Baltimore Orioles Injuries

Questionable

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Nate McLouth other-excused 05/27/2013

Doubtful

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Tommy Hunter hand 05/27/2013

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Taylor Teagarden thumb 04/28/2013
Wei-Yin Chen oblique 05/13/2013
Nolan Reimold hamstring 05/12/2013
Pedro Strop lower-back 05/25/2013

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Tsuyoshi Wada elbow 03/22/2013
Wilson Betemit knee 03/26/2013
Brian Roberts knee 04/05/2013


AL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
New York 30 19 .612 0 Lost 1
Boston 31 20 .607 0 Won 3
Baltimore 27 23 .540 3.5 Lost 1
Tampa Bay 25 24 .510 5 Won 1
Toronto 21 29 .420 9.5 Won 1

(updated 5.27.2013 at 12:54 PM EDT)

HITTER TO WATCH
Chris Davis

Everyone was waiting for Chris Davis to slow down after his incredible start to the season. Well, in his last 7 days he has been just as hot. He is 12/25 (.480/.581/1.080) with three doubles, four homeruns and six RBI. He also walked six times. On the season, he is hitting .337/.432/.721 with 16 HR and 48 RBI.


PITCHER TO WATCH

Jim Johnson


Johnson had an incredible season last year, saving 51/54 saves. This year, he already has four blown saves and an ERA of 5.25 as well as five losses on the year. Has he been pitching worse? Not really.
He is stung with a .329 BABIP this year as opposed to .251 last year. That's the difference between good luck and bad luck. His WHIP is only .35 higher. The biggest and most concerning difference is that he is allowing 13 per cent more ground balls and seven per cent more of those fly balls are leaving the yard. That right there is the difference between a closer shutting the door and struggling. The true Johnson is probably right in between his 2012 and 2013 season to date.

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