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Nationals-Dodgers Preview

Aug 6, 2010 - 6:35 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Washington (48-61) at Los Angeles (56-53), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Having squandered recent chances to make up ground on their division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers hope to turn things around while playing their next 10 games against NL East foes.

The Washington Nationals begin that stretch Friday night by visiting Dodger Stadium, where they'll try to hold down a Los Angeles offense that continues to sputter.

The Dodgers (56-53) played their last 10 games against the top two teams in the NL West. They went 3-7 against San Diego and San Francisco, slipping eight games behind the Padres and six back of the Giants for the wild card.

Manager Joe Torre had hoped his team's lengthy slump was over when Los Angeles beat the Padres 9-0 on Wednesday, but the Dodgers were blanked for the 12th time this season in Thursday's 5-0 defeat.

Complicating matters, they'll be without shortstop Rafael Furcal (sore back) for the rest of this homestand, and catcher Russell Martin (hip) for the season following recent injuries.

"We hope that we can overcome it and play well," Torre said of Martin's absence. "We have two good catchers that maybe don't give us the offense that Russell does, but they certainly can handle the defensive part of it."

Offense continues to be the biggest problem. In 21 games since the All-Star break, the Dodgers have been held to two or fewer runs 14 times, a huge reason they've gone 7-14.

Andre Ethier is batting .203 with 20 strikeouts in that stretch, while team RBI leader James Loney has hit .192 with three RBIs.

The Nationals (48-61) limited Los Angeles to five runs while taking two of three from the Dodgers in Washington from April 23-25, finishing the series with a 1-0 win.

Another pitchers' duel could be on tap Friday with Los Angeles sending Clayton Kershaw (10-6, 2.94 ERA) to the mound. The left-hander was on the short end of a 2-0 loss Sunday despite pitching seven strong innings at San Francisco.

"I had one pitch that someone did something with," Kershaw said, referring to Edgar Renteria's two-run triple in the sixth. "I'm not worried about our hitting. I'm here to put zeros up there. (Giants right-hander Matt Cain) just put one more zero up there than I did."

Kershaw is unbeaten at home since May 4, going 5-0 with a 2.02 ERA in his last eight starts at Chavez Ravine. In two career home starts against the Nationals, he is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA, although slugger Adam Dunn is 5 for 8 with a home run and two doubles in his career off Kershaw.

Washington's John Lannan (2-5, 5.63) completes the matchup of southpaws, making his second major league start since a month-long stint with Double-A Harrisburg.

The Nationals' opening day starter was sent down due to ineffectiveness, but battled through five innings Sunday against Philadelphia, allowing two runs and seven hits in Washington's 6-4, 11-inning loss.

The Nationals began a seven-game trip by splitting a four-game series in Arizona. They squandered a chance to win their first road series since May 10-12 against the Mets with an 8-4 loss Thursday night, making three errors.

"Too many nights like that early on put us we are in the standings and we were making a lot of progress," manager Jim Riggleman said. "We took a step backward (Thursday)."

Ryan Zimmerman remained a bright spot for Washington with two homers. The third baseman is 10 for 23 with four homers in his last six games, but he is 9 for 43 (.209) with one homer in his career at Dodger Stadium.