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Pirates-Nationals Preview

Jun 10, 2010 - 5:23 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (23-35) at Washington (28-31), 7:05 p.m. EDT

No pitcher will make his first major league start in the finale of this three-game set, though there is a different first the Washington Nationals would like to cross off their list.

The Nationals haven't swept an opponent this season, but facing a struggling Zach Duke on Thursday night could give them a great chance to cap a series of debuts with a third victory over the sinking Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park.

Phenom Stephen Strasburg made his highly anticipated major league debut Tuesday night, striking out 14 in a 5-2 victory, and Brad Lincoln - Pittsburgh's top pitching prospect - took a big-league mound for the first time Wednesday.

Lincoln's first outing didn't go nearly as well as Strasburg's. The No. 4 pick from the 2006 draft allowed five runs in six innings, and Ryan Zimmerman's seventh-inning RBI single off the shin of reliever D.J. Carrasco lifted Washington (29-31) to a 7-5 win.

"Those are the kind of breaks we haven't been getting lately," said Zimmerman, hitting .419 with four homers, nine RBIs and 12 walks over his last 10 games. "It's nice to get some every now and then."

The loss dropped the Pirates (23-36) into last place in the NL Central, though manager John Russell's team owns three series sweeps in 2010. The Nationals haven't had one since closing 2009 with back-to-back sweeps of New York and Atlanta.

They should have a good shot Thursday. Duke (3-6, 5.43 ERA) has given up 13 runs and 22 hits over 11 1-3 innings in his past two starts. He pitched four scoreless innings Friday before giving up three homers over the fifth and sixth, when San Francisco scored all of its runs en route to a 6-4 win.

"He just got flat all of a sudden," Russell told the Pirates' official website. "... If he makes his pitches, he should be fine. He just left some balls over the plate."

Duke is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA in four starts against the Nationals, whom he hasn't faced since May 1, 2008. Adam Dunn, who has homered in the series' first two games, is 5 for 11 against Duke and has taken him deep.

Washington counters with the closest thing it had to an ace prior to Strasburg's arrival. Livan Hernandez (4-3, 2.22), however, hasn't won in more than a month even though he's posted a respectable 3.44 ERA in those six starts.

Hernandez gave up eight hits, four walks and two runs over six innings Friday in a 4-2 win over Cincinnati.

The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in three starts versus the Central this season, and he went 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts against the Pirates in 2009.

The one current Pittsburgh hitter to have some success against Hernandez is Lastings Milledge. The former Nationals outfielder is 4 for 6 when facing the two-time All-Star.

Milledge moved from left field to right Wednesday to accommodate another of Pittsburgh's top prospects, Jose Tabata, the speedy leadoff hitter who had two hits and a stolen base in his major league debut.

Tabata left in the eighth inning with a hamstring cramp, but the injury isn't thought to be serious.

"He's going to be a big boost for our offense, as we saw tonight," Russell said.