Nationals at Phillies
What a luxury for the Washington Nationals to have a fifth starter such as Doug Fister, who makes his season debut Saturday in the middle contest of a three-game road set against the Philadelphia Phillies. Fister is coming off the best season of his career, as he set a personal best with 14 wins and achieved a career low with a 2.41 ERA, although he struggled in his only 2014 appearance at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia will counter with Cole Hamels, who allowed four home runs in five innings in his season debut. The Phillies' ace will try to pitch his team to back-to-back wins for the first time this season after they captured Friday's series opener 4-1. The Nationals, meanwhile, are dealing with a couple key injuries and have managed seven runs in four games. Bryce Harper is 5-for-15 but has struck out eight times, while Ryan Zimmerman and Dan Uggla are each 2-for-14.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Washington), TCN (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Doug Fister (2014: 16-6, 2.41 ERA) vs. Phillies LH Cole Hamels (0-1, 7.20)
Fister gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings in an 8-4 loss at Philadelphia on Aug. 27 but was terrific in two home starts against the Phillies last season, allowing two runs in seven innings each time. The sinkerballer sprinted to the finish line in 2014 as he shut out the Miami Marlins in his regular-season finale before tossing seven scoreless innings in his only postseason start. Fister struck out nine in that win over Miami but otherwise struck out three batters or fewer in each of his final eight starts, including the playoffs.
Hamels tied a career high by allowing four home runs - all solo shots - against the Boston Red Sox in Monday's opener. He recorded a quality start in all four of his outings against Washington last season and is 15-8 with a 2.63 ERA lifetime versus the Nationals. Hamels lost his final two starts last season and is in danger of dropping four consecutive starts for the first time since May 2013.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia 2B Chase Utley is off to a 1-for-14 start with no walks and no extra-base hits.
2. The Nationals have lost eight of their last 11 games against the Phillies.
3. Harper is a .320 career hitter in 25 at-bats against Hamels but has never homered against the former World Series MVP.