Phillies at Nationals
The Washington Nationals have won 16 of their last 23 contests to move into third place in the National League East, just four games behind a slumping Philadelphia Phillies team that has lost seven of its last nine. After winning both games of a doubleheader, the Nationals aim to continue making up ground on the visiting Phillies on Thursday in the finale of a rain-shortened series.
Brian Dozier went deep in both Washington's 6-2 win and 2-0 victory on Wednesday to increase his home-run total to 12 on the season, with four coming at the expense of Philadelphia. Juan Soto went 3-for-5 with two runs scored in the doubleheader to improve to 9-for-24 with two homers, eight RBIs and six runs scored in the season series against the Phillies. Bryce Harper was fairly quiet at the plate by going 0-for-4 with four walks in the doubleheader, although he was loudly booed by the Nationals' fans that saw him depart in favor of a 13-year, $330 million contract with Philadelphia a few months ago. Harper will look to make some noise versus Thursday starter Erick Fedde, who took the spot with Stephen Strasburg moved to Friday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Nick Pivetta (4-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Erick Fedde (1-1, 3.68)
Pivetta owns a 2-0 mark with a 2.70 ERA in four starts since returning from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, although he was touched for four runs - including three homers - in a no-decision at Atlanta on Friday. The 26-year-old British Columbia native aims to put forth a better performance against Washington after getting shredded for seven runs on as many hits over 3 2/3 innings en route to sustaining his lone loss of the season versus the Nationals on April 10. Anthony Rendon is 8-for-15 with three homers and nine RBIs versus Pivetta, who is 1-5 with a bloated 10.94 ERA in eight career appearances (seven starts) against Washington.
Fedde gets his sixth start of the season after giving up five runs on six hits (two homers) over six innings in a loss to Arizona last Thursday. The 26-year-old UNLV product allowed six runs over 20 innings with 13 strikeouts and seven walks in his previous four starts while going 1-0. Scott Kingery is 3-for-6 with a double and a homer versus Fedde, who is 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA in three career outings versus the Phillies.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia 2B Cesar Hernandez went 3-for-8 in the doubleheader to improve to 10-for-32 against Washington this season.
2. Rendon went 0-for-8 in the doubleheader after going 10-for-20 with two homers, eight RBIs and seven runs scored versus the Phillies previously this season.
3. Philadelphia RHP Pat Neshek strained his left hamstring strain on Wednesday and is likely headed back to the injured list, manager Gabe Kapler said.