Lauer expected to start for San Diego against Washington
Washington Nationals (28-35, fourth in the NL East) vs. San Diego Padres (33-31, third in the NL West)
San Diego; Saturday, 10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Max Scherzer (3-5, 3.06 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 117 strikeouts) Padres: Eric Lauer (5-4, 4.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 52 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: San Diego and Washington will face off at PETCO Park on Saturday.
The Padres are 18-18 in home games. San Diego has hit 96 home runs this season, ninth in the National League. Franmil Reyes leads the team with 19, averaging one every 10.5 at-bats.
The Nationals are 13-20 in road games. The Washington pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.77. Max Scherzer leads the team with a 3.06 earned run average. The Padres won the last meeting 5-4. Adam Warren notched his fourth victory and Fernando Tatis Jr. went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for San Diego. Sean Doolittle registered his second loss for Washington.
TOP PERFORMERS: Eric Hosmer leads the Padres with 68 hits and has 36 RBIs. Reyes is 6-for-33 with a double, four home runs and five RBIs over the last 10 games for San Diego.
Anthony Rendon leads the Nationals with 11 home runs and has 40 RBIs. Howie Kendrick has 12 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Washington.
LAST 10 GAMES: Padres: 5-5, .224 batting average, 5.46 ERA, outscored by 12 runs
Nationals: 6-4, .258 batting average, 3.70 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs
Padres Injuries: Matt Strahm: 10-day IL (rib), Garrett Richards: 60-day IL (elbow), Jacob Nix: 60-day IL (elbow), Aaron Loup: 60-day IL (elbow), Dinelson Lamet: 60-day IL (elbow), Brett Kennedy: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jose Castillo: 60-day IL (hip), Travis Jankowski: 60-day IL (foot), Franchy Cordero: 10-day IL (elbow), Jose Pirela: 10-day IL (oblique).
Nationals Injuries: Austen Williams: 10-day IL (shoulder), Trevor Rosenthal: 10-day IL (infection), Justin Miller: 10-day IL (shoulder), Jeremy Hellickson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Koda Glover: 60-day IL (forearm), Ryan Zimmerman: 10-day IL (foot).
