Nationals at Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers look for their 11th victory in 14 games when they open a four-game series against the visiting Washington Nationals on Thursday. Los Angeles racked up 23 runs in a three-game home sweep against Atlanta that concluded with Wednesday's 9-4 triumph.
Max Muncy went 3-for-5 with a homer in the latest win over the Braves, which wrapped up Los Angeles' third straight home sweep and 10th consecutive win at Dodger Stadium. Cody Bellinger was hitless in three at-bats and his average stands at .394, the first time it has been below .400 since late March. The Nationals have dropped four straight games, including a three-game sweep versus Milwaukee. "We keep beating ourselves right now," Washington manager Dave Martinez told reporters after Wednesday's 7-3 road loss. "We've got to come out and just play baseball. We battled back again, but we've got to start playing clean baseball, stop giving other teams 30 outs and playing good baseball."
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, MASN (Washington), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals LH Patrick Corbin (2-1, 3.71 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Rich Hill (0-0, 3.60)
Corbin dominated Los Angeles last season while with Arizona, going 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings over four starts. Overall, the 29-year-old is just 4-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 20 career appearances (18 starts) versus the Dodgers. Corbin did not factor in the decision against Philadelphia in his last turn, when he allowed three runs and six hits over six innings.
Hill, who is making his third start of the season, served up two homers in each of the first two while settling for no-decisions both times. The 39-year-old struck out nine batters and walked one in 10 frames but was touched up for a total of 12 hits. Hill is 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Nationals.
WALK-OFFS
1. Nationals 3B Anthony Rendon is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts in two games since returning from an elbow injury.
2. Los Angeles 3B Justin Turner, who has belted four homers over his last two games, is 12-for-29 with two shots and six RBIs against Corbin.
3. Washington reportedly will add free-agent OF Gerardo Parra, perhaps before Thursday's contest.