Fresh off of back-to-back wins over a division leader, the Washington Nationals will host the red-hot San Francisco Giants for a four-game series that begins Monday night.
The Giants are one game below .500 and have had their struggles on the road at 23-34, but they have won seven of their past nine games overall. They’re hoping their recent series win at Cincinnati will be a turning point.
“It’s huge,” said Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who homered in their 8-2 win Sunday. “We know every series from here on out is a big one for us. We can’t take any games for granted at this point of the season. It was a huge series win for us, and we hope to take that with us into Washington.”
Fitzgerald’s homer was his 11th of the season, but 10 of them have come in the past 16 games. The rookie had one through his first 34 games.
Slugger Matt Chapman also went deep Sunday, his 17th of the season, and extended his own hot streak. Over his past 11 games, Chapman is batting .390 (16-for-41) with four doubles, four homers, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Luis Garcia Jr. has been wielding a hot bat for the Nationals. He racked up multiple hits in all three games against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, as Washington took two of three. In those games, Garcia went 8-for-12 with a double, two home runs and five runs scored.
San Francisco right-hander Logan Webb (8-8, 3.49 ERA), gets the ball Monday and can hardly do any better than his last time out. Against the visiting Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, Webb threw his second career shutout in the 1-0 win. Webb gave up just five hits and one walk, while striking out six batters.
In five career starts against Washington, he is 3-1 with a 4.88 ERA. He has 22 strikeouts in four walks over 24 innings, though the Nationals have batted .324 against him with an OPS of .820.
The Nationals are going with left-hander Patrick Corbin (2-11, 5.88). Corbin is coming off the worst start of an already poor season, when he gave up 11 runs (10 earned) on 13 hits over three innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Tuesday.
Corbin has plenty of experience against the Giants, having made 29 appearances (27 starts) against them going back to 2012. He is 9-11 with a 3.58 ERA, 147 strikeouts and 30 walks over 166 innings.
Washington is hopeful Corbin can have a similar turnaround to that of Mitchell Parker, who threw six shutout innings on Sunday. Parker failed to last an inning in a July 13 start against the Brewers, giving up five runs on three hits and two walks.
“Last time we faced them, it didn’t go as well, but (Parker) did really well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said after their win Sunday. “He utilized all his pitches and he pitched really well. … When he came out (to start the game), he was throwing 88-89 (mph). We knew what was happening and we wanted to know why, but it’s hard to talk to a guy when he’s out there.
“All of a sudden, he figured it out and his velo was 92-93, where he’s supposed to be. He was underneath the ball throwing to push the ball a little bit, but he realized it and he started getting on top and trying to drive down and it was beautiful. I was concerned because I know he doesn’t throw 88-89, but he figured it out and it was beautiful.”
–Field Level Media
