Strasburg Takes the Mound as Nationals Look to Sweep Mets

After narrowly avoiding a disastrous loss to the Mets Wednesday night, the Nationals look to sweep New York tonight and earn their 11th consecutive victory at Citi Field.

Stephen Strasburg (8-10, 3.68 ERA) gets the start for the Nationals as he looks to bounce back from a rough outing against the Braves in which he gave up seven runs over five innings of work. Prior to that start against the Braves — one of his worst starts of the season — Strasburg had pitched his best game of 2014, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless innings while striking out 10, Aug. 3 against the Phillies.

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Inconsistency has been a major issue for Strasburg this summer as the right-hander has struggled to string together solid starts like he did early in the season. Hopefully for the Nationals, Strasburg will get back to his winning ways tonight and carry some positive momentum into his next start.

In his career against the Mets, Strasburg is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 30 innings.

The Mets will counter with Dillon Gee (4-4, 3.54 ERA), who is coming off one of his best starts of the season. Gee pitched seven solid innings against the Phillies his last time out, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out four.

In his career against the Nationals, the Mets’ right-hander is 7-3 with a 3.23 ERA and 61 strikeouts over 83 2/3 innings.

Prior to Thursday night’s game, the Nationals are 65-53 and lead the Braves by 5 1/2 games in the NL East. With Atlanta’s loss to the Dodgers earlier today, the Nationals have a chance to stretch their lead to six games with a win against the Mets tonight.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

1. CF: Denard Span
2. 2B: Asdrubal Cabrera
3. 3B: Anthony Rendon
4. 1B: Adam LaRoche
5. SS: Ian Desmond
6. LF: Bryce Harper
7. C: Jose Lobaton
8. RF: Michael A. Taylor
9. SP: Stephen Strasburg

Mets

1. RF: Curtis Granderson
2. 2B: Daniel Murphy
3. 3B: David Wright
4. 1B: Lucas Duda
5. C: Travis d’Arnaud
6. LF: Matt den Dekker
7. CF: Juan Lagares
8. SS: Wilmer Flores
9. SP: Dillon Gee