After dealing with injuries to some of their biggest players, the Washington Nationals are getting healthy and look to continue their dominance in the National League East. They have managed to hold pace despite losing Wilson Ramos and Bryce Harper for a portion of the season, everyone is returning which is not good for anyone else in the division.
The Nationals are looking to keep the NL East lead as the face off against the Chicago Cubs. They get Ramos back into the mix after losing him for 53 games thanks to various injuries. He returned on Thursday to two hits and run against the Cubs. Harper will also be back on the field as early as Monday. He has not been seen since getting onto the disabled list in April after undergoing thumb surgery.
However, the most important return is having Tanner Roark back on the mound who will be looking for his fifth straight win. He has a 1.48 ERA while winning four straight starts. It helps that he is getting 17 runs of support during that. He only got 11 in his previous five games, putting up a 2.20 ERA. His success continues to get better. In his last start, he went five innings only throwing 96 pitches and giving up one run in the mix. He has little experience against the Cubs. His one time facing the lineup was from the bullpen. Denard Span is leading the offense. He is 6 for 17 with four RBIs over his last five games.
Jason Hammel will be targeted to get the Cubs back to winning as they have dropped four of their last six games. The pitcher is 6-0 with a 3.15 ERA in his last eight starts against Washington. Anthony Rizzo is the one bright spot in the Cubs offense. He is 14 for 32 with three home runs in his last eight games while getting three hits on Thursday.
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