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Aug 11, 2010 - 5:16 AM By SAMANTHA PANITCH STATS Writer

Florida (54-56) at Washington (49-63), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Florida Marlins starter Chris Volstad has not put together a stellar season, but he has had impressive outings when facing the Washington Nationals.

The right-hander will get a chance to beat Washington for the third time in as many tries this year when the teams face off Wednesday night.

Volstad (5-8, 4.63 ERA) is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA versus the Nationals this season after going 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in his first four career starts against them.

His only complete game of the season - and second of his career - came against Washington (49-64), giving up four hits and striking out a season-high eight in a 7-1 win May 1.

Since being recalled from Triple-A New Orleans, Volstad has made three starts, going 1-0 with a 3.78 ERA. In his last appearance, he surrendered two runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday.

"I'm pleased with his last outing. I saw some improvement there," manager Edwin Rodriguez told the Marlins' official website. "I know that he still has a lot to offer, and we haven't seen the best of Volstad yet. I know that he's working hard. He's getting the right frame of mind. He's staying aggressive."

Volstad will look to Dan Uggla and the rest of the Marlins' bats to stay hot to help Florida (55-56) win its fourth consecutive game against Washington.

Uggla is batting .356 with 10 homers and 18 RBIs in his last 16 games. He homered and doubled off Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg on Tuesday night and drove in four runs in an 8-2 win.

"When you see guys smacking doubles and hitting home runs, everyone kind of gets up for that," said Mike Stanton, who also doubled off Strasburg. "You want to knock him out early. That's what happened."

Hanley Ramirez added three doubles for Florida, which has won two straight while scoring 13 runs after totaling 11 during a five-game losing streak.

Uggla and Ramirez, though, have struggled against Scott Olsen (3-3, 4.12), who will take the mound for Washington. They are a combined 4 for 22 against the left-hander with seven strikeouts.

In his second start after missing more than two months due to shoulder tightness, Olsen gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 6-1 loss to Arizona last Tuesday.

He won his lone start against the Marlins this season, going six scoreless innings in a 7-1 victory April 30. In his career, Olsen is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA against the team with which he spent his first four big-league seasons.

The Nationals will try to avoid a fourth straight loss.