In eight games and 26 career plate appearances as a DH, Washington Nationals' outfielder Jayson Werth has a .318/.423/.636 line with a double and two home runs as a designated hitter over the course of his 12 major league seasons.
The Nats' 35-year-old right fielder is serving as the team's designated hitter tonight when he plays in Seattle, WA's Safeco Field for the first time in his career as the Nationals start a three-game Interleague set with the Mariners at 10:10PM.
On the mound opposite Werth and the Nationals is Felix Hernandez, the 28-year-old, 6'3'' right-hander, who enters tonight's series opener with a (9-2) record in 13 starts at home this season, over which he's put up a 1.96 ERA, a 2.23 FIP, 15 walks (1.40 BB/9) and 100 Ks (9.31 K/9) in 96 ⅔ IP, while holding visiting hitters to a combined .181/.218/.268 line.
The list of Nationals' hitters who have faced King Felix in his career is a short one, and none of them has fared particularly well:
• Hernandez vs the Nationals:
Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | missG | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denard Span | 30 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | .091 | .250 | .136 | .386 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Asdrubal Cabrera | 24 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | .150 | .217 | .200 | .417 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Scott Hairston | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Adam LaRoche | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Kevin Frandsen | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Jose Lobaton | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 67 | 55 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 18 | .127 | .219 | .164 | .382 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
In seven second-half starts, Hernandez is (2-2) with a 1.93 ERA, nine walks (1.73 BB/9) and 50 Ks (9.64 K/9) in 46 ⅔ IP.
The Nationals will have to get past or outlast Fernandez in order to stop their three-game losing streak, which won't be an easy task.
The right-hander has gone six innings-plus in 24 of 27 starts this season, but two of the three in which he went less than six innings have come in his last two outings, a five-inning start against the Detroit Tigers in which he gave up seven hits and two runs, and a 5 ⅔-inning outing against the Boston Red Sox last time out in which he gave up five hits, two walks and three earned runs...
Wait, who's starting in right for the Nats?
• Here are the lineups for the Nationals' first game with the Mariners in Safeco Field since 2008: