Washington @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 15, 2015 ) Washington 6, San Francisco 12

The Washington Nationals head into Sunday’s series finale against the host San Francisco Giants hoping a rookie can do what Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer and Gio Gonzalez failed to achieve in the first three games. Joe Ross will look to snap the Nationals’ five-game losing streak when he matches up against Madison Bumgarner and the Giants, who have won four of their last five.

The Nationals could be without star right fielder Bryce Harper, who left Saturday’s 12-6 loss in the seventh inning after fouling a ball off his left ankle. Harper’s absence would be hard to overcome for the struggling Nationals, who are 10-19 since the All-Star break and 4 1/2 games behind the NL East-leading Mets. The Giants have won 12 of their last 14 home games and sit 2 1/2 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West despite missing injured outfielders Angel Pagan (right knee tendinitis) and Nori Aoki (concussion) along with second baseman Joe Panik (back). Third baseman Matt Duffy might not want the Nationals to leave after going 6-for-12 with a home run and eight RBIs in the last three games.

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Washington), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Joe Ross (3-4, 3.44 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (13-6, 3.15)

Ross looks to bounce back from the worst outing of his short career after yielding five runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 5-0 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday. The Bay Area native bumped veteran Doug Fister from the rotation after posting a 2.92 ERA in his previous four starts. Ross, who is making his first career start against the Giants, owns a 48-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 49 2/3 innings.

Bumgarner struck out 12 and didn't walk a batter in a complete-game 3-1 win over Houston on Tuesday, giving him five victories in his last six starts. “We ran into one of the better pitchers in the bigs,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch told reporters. “He really had good stuff and we couldn’t really rally against him.” Harper is 4-for-11 with two home runs against Bumgarner, who is 2-4 with a 3.42 ERA in eight career starts against the Nationals.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Nationals are at .500 for the first time since they were 15-15 after May 8.

2. San Francisco is averaging 5.4 runs per game at AT&T Park in 24 games since June 16.

3. Washington 1B Ryan Zimmerman is 1-for-16 with 10 strikeouts in his last five games.

PREDICTION: Giants 5, Nationals 1