Washington Nationals’ lineup for the 2nd of 3 with the San Francisco Giants in Oracle Park

San Francisco Giants’ starter Jeff Samardzija gave up just three hits, three walks, and one earned run last night, but Washington Nationals’ hitters ran his pitch count up to 98 in an abbreviated four-inning outing in what ended up a 4-0 win for the visiting team in Oracle Park.

“Outside of just battling and fighting,” Samardzija told reporters after the game, as quoted by MLB.com’s Maria Guardado, “... there wasn’t too much positive out there for me.”

“They made me work. Slider wasn’t very good today. They fouled off a lot of pitches.

“Everything was kind of the same speed, so the pitch count got a little high. That was the story.”

“We talked about just getting the ball in the strike zone and make him work,” Davey Martinez said after the win, “... and they did a great job with that. We wanted to get him in the strike zone and we know he throws a lot of sliders, a lot of two-seamers, and his cutter, so just get him in the strike zone.”

In the second game of three with the Giants tonight, the Nats are going up against Conner Menez, a 24-year-old, 2016 14th Round pick, who made his MLB debut last month.

Menez has posted a 3.29 ERA, 42 walks, and 132 Ks in 20 games, 19 starts, and 104 innings of work between Double and Triple-A in San Francisco’s system.

He is, however, going up against a Nationals’ roster that has a combined .277/.353/.464 line against left-handers this season, good for 2nd/1st/4th among National League teams.

Aníbal Sánchez starts for the Nats tonight, and takes a 12-start unbeaten streak into the game, over which he’s (6-0), with a 2.88 ERA, 16 walks, 54 Ks, and a .229/.282/.379 line against in 65 ²⁄₃ innings.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 2ND OF 3 WITH THE GIANTS: