The Washington Nationals have once again found their offense and are back sitting in first place in the National League East thanks to a collapse by the Atlanta Braves against the New York Mets. Armed with one of the better pitching rotations in the major leagues, teams are finding it tough to answer the Nationals' top arms. The Baltimore Orioles are just another team to fall to Washington's pitching and are at risk of doing it again on Thursday.
Gio Gonzalez gets the start and is looking to extend his scoreless streak as Washington searches for their ninth win in 11 games. Gonzalez is contributing to a pitching rotation that has a combined 2.13 ERA in the last 10 games. They have given up four runs over the past 28 innings. To put things in perspective, the Orioles have been averaging 6.3 runs per game while batting .303 before managing just seven hits against the Nationals.
Gonzalez is certainly doing his part to help. He has not allowed a run in 22 innings pitched, dating back to June 18 agaisnt the Houston Astros. In his last outing, he gave up just four hits over eight innings. He is back after missing a month of play for shoulder inflammation while being 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in his last four starts. However, he has a 5.30 ERA against Baltimore in three starts.
The Orioles will counter with Wei-Yin Chen who is 8-3 eith a 4.12 ERA on the year. He is responsible for a defeat back in June where he gave up five runs and seven hits while also allowing three home runs in just three innings. Those were all season-low numbers, something he hopes to avoid. In two career starts against the Nationals, he is 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA.
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