Nationals at Phillies
The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies each entered their weekend series trending in the right direction, but Friday's series opener was decisively one-sided. The visiting Nationals aim for another strong outing Saturday as they take the field behind Max Scherzer.
Scherzer is looking to rebound from a mediocre outing, although his teammates were anything but mediocre in Friday's contest. The Nationals cruised to a 9-1 triumph as Jayson Werth doubled twice and drove in three runs against his former team. Joe Ross allowed only three hits over 7 2/3 scoreless innings to help Washington extend its winning streak to six games. Philadelphia, which had won five of its previous six games, will turn to promising youngster Aaron Nola on Saturday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington), TCN (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Max Scherzer (1-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Aaron Nola (0-1, 3.21)
Scherzer gave up four runs in six innings his last time out but still earned the victory against Atlanta - his opponent in each of his first two starts. He has worked at least six innings in 11 consecutive outings, dating back to last year. He went 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA in four starts against the Phillies last season and is 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA lifetime against Philadelphia.
Nola has logged seven innings in each of his first two outings, posting 17 strikeouts without a walk in a sizzling start to 2016. He made 13 starts as a rookie last season, registering a 3.59 ERA despite uneven success against Washington. The Nationals batted .349 against the former first-round pick, who had one bad start against Washington (six runs in five innings) but recovered 12 days later to blank Washington over five frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Werth and Bryce Harper are a combined 5-for-10 with two homers against Nola.
2. Philadelphia 1B Ryan Howard is 1-for-13 with eight strikeouts versus Scherzer.
3. The Nationals have allowed a total of 10 runs during their six-game winning streak.