Kansas City @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 21, 2010 ) Kansas City 1, Washington 2
The Washington Nationals are still having trouble scoring runs, but at least they finally picked up a win.
The Nationals will be looking to take advantage of the lowly Kansas City Royals again when they meet in the second of a three-game series on Tuesday.
Mired in a six-game slide and having dropped eight of nine, Washington is beginning to look more like the team that finished with the worst record in baseball in each of the last two seasons and less like the surprising squad of the first two months of the campaign that was hovering around .500.
The offense has been the problem, with the Nationals averaging just over two runs per game during their last eight setbacks.
They managed a total of two runs and four hits in the series opener on Monday, but still posted a 2-1 victory. Mike Morse homered in the second and Cristian Guzman added a solo shot in the sixth while Livan Hernandez scattered eight hits in seven innings with the help of 11 groundouts.
Ryan Zimmerman, who is batting No. 3 in the lineup, has epitomized the struggles of the offense, going 4-for-35 over the last nine games.
Monday marked the fourth loss in a row for Kansas City, which was swept by the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. Pitching is generally the problem for the Royals, who are ranked 13th in the American League with a 4.90 ERA.
Kansas City will give right-hander Anthony Lerew his second start of the season on Tuesday. The 27-year-old Lerew has appeared in 15 games scattered over five seasons with the Royals and Atlanta Braves.
He pitched well enough against the Houston Astros last Thursday – allowing two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out seven – to earn himself another turn. An 11th round draft pick of the Braves back in 2001, Lerew was 5-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 14 games for Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate before being recalled.
The Nationals will counter with rookie Luis Atilano. The 25-year-old right-hander has lost his last three starts and is coming off a thrashing at Detroit in which he allowed five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Atilano has finished seven innings in just one of his 11 starts this season and has walked as many batters as he has struck out – 25 – in 60 1/3 total frames. He has yielded 11 runs – eight earned – and 16 hits while walking three and striking out three in two starts against American League opponents.