What to Watch for: 6/17
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New York Yankees (39-25) vs. Washington Nationals (38-25)
RHP Ivan Nova (8-2, 4.64) vs. RHP Edwin Jackson (3-3, 3.02)
The Nationals and Yankees take the field for the series finale this afternoon at Nationals Park. While both bullpens must recover quickly from yesterday’s 14-inning affair, Edwin Jackson is looking to give the Nats the proper start they need to defeat New York. Happy Father’s Day!
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Lombardozzi LF
2. Harper CF
3. Zimmerman 3B
4. LaRoche 1B
5. Morse RF
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Solano C
9. Jackson RHP
AVOIDING THE BROOMS
The Nationals will try to avoid their first home sweep of 2012 today. To date, the Nationals have been swept twice this season, both of which came on the road (at Los Angeles, at Miami). In fact, the last team to sweep the Nationals in D.C. was the Marlins, who won three times in three days July 26-28, 2011. While the Nats have dropped two straight, they have won six of eight and eight of their last 11 contests.
JUNE PITCHING BOON
During a 9-4 June, Steve McCatty’s starting rotation has yet to allow more than three runs in a game and has limited opposing teams to two runs or less ten times in 13 contests. In fact, as good as the starting staff has been (3.02 ERA, .218 batting average against) during June, the bullpen has performed better (2.82 ERA, .189 BAA).
DESMOND MATCHES CAREER HIGH
With his game-tying home run in the eighth inning yesterday, Ian Desmond matched his career-high with 10 home runs on the season. He also hit 10 in 2010, but did not hit his tenth until September 14th at Atlanta.
