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Padres-Nationals Preview

Jul 26, 2009 - 6:21 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

San Diego (38-59) at Washington (28-68), 1:35 p.m. EDT

After sitting through a rain delay Saturday that lasted longer than three hours, the San Diego Padres then had to suffer the ignominy of getting blown out by the worst team in the majors.

The visiting Padres can at least salvage the three-game series by beating the Washington Nationals on Sunday, but they'll have to go through red-hot Washington starter John Lannan.

Thanks to a 4-18 record in the month of July, San Diego (38-60) has the second-worst record in the big leagues and is stumbling closer to the Nationals (29-68) in the standings.

Another loss would give the club its first series defeat in Washington since the Nationals moved from Montreal. Saturday's 13-1 loss was just their second in 14 games in the nation's capital.

The storms meant the Padres faced Washington's woeful bullpen for seven innings, but San Diego managed one run and four hits off Nationals relievers, who still rank last in the majors with a 5.28 ERA.

The Padres' offense has been arguably even more ineffective, the worst in both leagues by a wide margin in runs (357) and batting average (.230).

Washington, on the other hand, showed off the strong heart of its order. Ryan Zimmerman had three hits and homered for the second straight game Saturday, while Adam Dunn added a grand slam for his 25th homer.

"Everybody did their job tonight," Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard said. "That's one of the best games we've played all year."

Saturday's game ended just before 1 a.m. EDT, and the teams will have fewer than 13 hours of rest before Sunday's matin?e.

San Diego won't want to be sluggish against Lannan, who has been a bright spot on Washington's struggling staff this year. The left-hander is coming off his first career shutout after scattering seven singles and walking none in a 4-0 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday.

Lannan (7-7, 3.38 ERA) struck out just one in that game and has 19 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings in his last nine starts, but he is still 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA over that span.

"I've never considered myself a dominating pitcher," said Lannan, who's 0-1 despite a 2.08 ERA in two starts against San Diego. "I don't think the guys over in the Mets clubhouse are like, 'Wow, that guy dominated me.' I just made good pitches, down in the zone."

Chad Gaudin, on the other hand, has been racking up the strikeout numbers going into Sunday's start. Gaudin (4-9, 4.82) has 50 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings in his last seven outings, going 2-4 with a 3.30 ERA over that span.

The right-hander will be trying to avoid a third straight defeat after allowing three runs in six innings of a 3-2 loss to Florida on Tuesday.

"It's not about individuals, it's about the team not winning," Gaudin said. "... We are just trying to pick up the pieces and keep it going. You have to stay positive."

Gaudin has never started against Washington, but he allowed six runs in two innings of relief against them Aug. 22 while with the Chicago Cubs. Ronnie Belliard and Willie Harris homered off Gaudin.