St. Louis @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 1, 2012 ) St. Louis 10, Washington 9
Stephen Strasburg's remaining starts are dwindling down to a precious few. The hard-throwing right-hander will look to rebound from a brutal outing when the Washington Nationals attempt to take three of four from the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Washington took its foot off the gas when it allowed an early four-run lead to slip away en route to a 10-9 loss on Saturday.
The offensive explosion was certainly welcomed by St. Louis, which had been outscored 32-1 en route to losing its previous four contests. David Freese belted a two-run homer and snapped a tie with an RBI single in the ninth inning on Saturday. With the victory, the Cardinals increased their lead in the race for the second wild card to 1 1/2 games over Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, FSMW (St. Louis), MASN2 (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jake Westbrook (13-10, 3.94 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (15-6, 3.05)
Westbrook suffered his second loss in three outings after being blitzed for seven runs on 11 hits in five innings by Pittsburgh last Sunday. The 34-year-old matched a season high with four walks in the setback. Westbrook has struggled versus the Nationals, winning just one of three career starts while registering a gaudy 6.23 ERA.
Strasburg came unglued in his last start after yielding a career-high seven runs on nine hits in five innings against Miami. The setback snapped a four-start winning streak for the 24-year-old, who has yet to face the Cardinals in his career. Strasburg, who sits at 150 1/3 innings, will likely make two or three more starts as the Nationals staunchly monitor his workload.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rookie phenom Bryce Harper has collected three homers, eight RBIs and six runs scored during his stretch of four multi-hit games.
2. Washington OF Jayson Werth is also riding a solid four-game stretch, going 8-for-17 with eight runs scored. He is 4-for-4 with a home run in his career versus Westbrook.
3. St. Louis veteran Lance Berkman, who was activated from the disabled list following right knee inflammation, is expected to be eased back into the lineup.