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Royals-Nationals Preview

Jun 22, 2010 - 5:01 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Kansas City (29-41) at Washington (31-39), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Washington Nationals didn't solve their offensive struggles, but they did just enough to win their last game. They'll try to build on their first victory in more than a week as they continue their series against the slumping Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

After totaling four runs while dropping three straight to the Chicago White Sox over the weekend, Washington (32-39) had just four hits Monday against Kansas City. The Nationals, though, snapped a season-high six-game slide as Michael Morse and Cristian Guzman hit solo homers in the 2-1 victory.

"It feels real good. It's been a little grind here lately, it's been tough to win a ball game," said manager Jim Riggleman, whose team has scored 2.8 runs per game while dropping eight of 10. "We've been having trouble breaking it open a little bit."

The Nationals will try to give more run support to rookie Luis Atilano (5-4, 2.94 ERA), who has lost each of his last three starts. The right-hander gave up five runs and a season high-tying nine hits in Thursday's 8-3 loss at Detroit.

"I was just trying to make pitches and get ground balls and keep the ball out of the (middle of the plate)," Atilano told the Nationals' official website. "Today I got a few more fly balls than usual. Sometimes that happens and you have to (limit) the damage."

Royals right-hander Anthony Lerew (0-0, 3.00) did just that in his last start. Called up from Triple-A Omaha in place of the injured Luke Hochevar, Lerew pitched five scoreless innings after yielding a pair of first-inning runs in Thursday's 5-2 victory over Houston. It was his first appearance since pitching 2 2-3 innings of relief at Minnesota on Oct. 4.

"A little nervous at first, but once I settled in and kept the ball down it went well," said Lerew, who is 0-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 15 career appearances.

Lerew might need another solid outing if Kansas City (29-42) fails to push home runners again.

The Royals had the leadoff man on seven times Monday and had 11 hits, but they left eight on base. Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez threw out two runners and picked off Alberto Callaspo at second in the seventh inning.

"That doesn't shut down your (running) game when a catcher throws well," said Royals manager Ned Yost, whose club is averaging 3.5 runs during its four-game slide. "You've still got to try and score runs when you're not doing much at the plate."

Royals outfielder Jose Guillen, who played for the Nationals from 2005-06, is batting .349 during a 16-game hitting streak.

Kansas City's Scott Podsednik went 4 for 4 on Monday to increase hit batting average to .400 over his last eight games.

Morse is batting .450 in his last seven games and has hit all three of his homers this season during that stretch. Guzman's sixth-inning solo shot Monday was his first home run since Aug. 23 versus Milwaukee.

The Washington franchise has won six of seven all-time versus Kansas City.