Cubs 4 - 2 Nationals
Final
  for this game

Hammel aims to continue mastery of Nationals

Jun 6, 2015 - 1:50 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Hammel tries to keep his perfect record against Washington intact when he leads the Chicago Cubs against the Nationals Saturday afternoon in the third installment of a four-game series.

The righty is 8-0 with a 3.11 ERA in 10 starts against the Nationals. He's the lone pitcher in major league history with at least eight wins and no losses versus Washington. He's held right-handers to a .199 batting average and has walked only seven batters while fanning 69 in his 67 innings pitched.

Hammel, who makes his fourth straight start on the road, is coming off a victory at Miami on Monday when he struck out a career-high 11 batters. He allowed a run on five hits and issued no walks in 6 2/3 innings.

The Nationals will counter with Joe Ross, who will make his major league debut. The younger brother of Padres right-hander Tyson Ross, Joe compiled a record of 10-6 with a 3.92 ERA last year in the minors for the Padres. He was acquired by the Nationals in December. This season in the minors, Ross is 2-2 with a 2.81 ERA in nine starts for Double-A Harrisburg.

On Friday, Danny Espinosa hit a three-run homer and the Nationals earned a 7-5 win. Wilson Ramos supplied two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Ian Desmond and Espinosa each scored twice for the Nationals, who ended a three- game skid.

"Nice job through the lineup tonight," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "It's a good win for us. We needed that one."

Tanner Roark (2-2) earned the win after giving up four runs on six hits with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Anthony Rizzo homered twice and Miguel Montero provided a solo shot for the Cubs, who won Thursday's series opener 2-1. Tsuyoshi Wada (0-1) gave up five runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 frames in the loss.

"That's the type of team we are. We kept fighting, kept battling," said Rizzo.

The Nationals took two of three on the road over the Cubs from May 25-27 and have won nine of the past 14 meetings overall.






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