Washington @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( May 29, 2015 ) Washington 2, Cincinnati 5

The Washington Nationals took another hit on Friday, when Stephen Strasburg was pulled from his start in the second inning. Gio Gonzalez will try to give the Nationals some length and save the bullpen when they visit the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday for the second contest of their three-game series.

Washington, which lost left fielder Jayson Werth to a broken hand earlier in the week, can ill afford to have Strasburg (shoulder) miss much time with Doug Fister (flexor strain) and Sammy Solis (shoulder inflammation) just starting to throw off flat ground in their respective rehabs. The early exit left the Nationals' pitching staff thin and resulted in a 5-2 loss, ending a streak of four straight games in which it had surrendered three or fewer runs. The Reds are cruising along - in a relative sense - with wins in two of their last three contests following a nine-game slide. Todd Frazier is leading the way for Cincinnati with home runs in three of the last four games.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Washington), FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals LH Gio Gonzalez (4-2, 4.53 ERA) vs. Reds RH Raisel Iglesias (1-1, 4.26)

Gonzalez bounced back from two straight rough outings by holding Philadelphia to one run and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win on Sunday. The 29-year-old fanned seven in that outing after totaling four strikeouts in his previous two turns. Gonzalez has had some success against Cincinnati in his career, going 2-1 with a 1.06 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 34 innings in five starts.

Iglesias remains in the rotation as the Reds try to fill the huge hole left by Johnny Cueto's elbow injury. The Cuban needed 84 pitches to get through three innings at Cleveland on Sunday and absorbed the loss while allowing two runs on four hits and three walks. Iglesias dominated in his last home start, scattering two hits over eight frames to beat Atlanta on May 13.

WALK-OFFS

1. Nationals INF Anthony Rendon (sprained MCL, strained oblique) played second base in his first rehab game at Double-A on Friday and went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts.

2. Cincinnati SS Zack Cozart recorded three hits on Friday, one more than the total from his previous nine games.

3. Washington RF Bryce Harper went 1-for-4 with a single on Friday and has belted five homers in the last 10 games.

PREDICTION: Nationals 5, Reds 3