Orioles 2 - 4 Nationals
Final
  for this game

Nationals target eighth straight win in meeting with O's

Jun 18, 2011 - 3:01 PM (Sports Network) - Armed with a seven-game winning streak, the Washington Nationals will send Jordan Zimmermann to the mound this afternoon when they try to secure victory in the Beltway Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Nats, by virtue of their 8-4 victory last night in the opener of a three- game series, are continuing their ascent. Even though they are 9 1/2 games out of first in the NL East, they are now tied with the New York Mets for third in the division and are just two games under .500. Today they go for their first eight-game winning streak since August 2-9, 2009.

Zimmermann has been spectacular on the mound lately, even though the Nats have scored two runs or less in four of his last five starts. He's 2-0 over his previous three outings and has given up two runs over 21 innings. During that span, the righty has fanned 17 batters and walked just three. In fact, he's given out one free pass in each of his last five outings.

Zimmermann took a 2-1 loss to the Orioles on May 22 at Camden Yards despite giving up just two runs over 6 1/3 innings, a game the Nats lost by a run.

Brian Matusz toes the rubber for the Orioles today, as the lefty aims to bounce back from a horrendous showing against Tampa Bay on Sunday. In that game, Matusz yielded five hits and four runs and didn't make it out of the second inning in a 9-6 defeat.

Last night, Jerry Hairston Jr. went 3-for-3 and drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, helping the Nationals to victory. Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond also drove in runs during the decisive inning for Washington.

"It's a long season. We never want to get ahead of ourselves," Hairston said. "If we focus on winning series, hopefully we'll put ourselves in position come September where we're in the hunt."

They won Friday thanks to timely hits, while the Orioles couldn't capitalize on 18 of them. They went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners to open this interleague series with a loss -- the fifth in their last six games.

Derrek Lee had five hits, while Nick Markakis and Adam Jones both had four in the setback.

"We need to play better. Spring training is over," Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said. "We keep making the same mistakes. We have to start getting some runs and play better defense."

Desmond has an 11-game hitting streak for the Nats.

Baltimore won two of three against Washington from May 20-22 this season at Camden Yards and is 110-141 against the National League. Washington owns a 119-132 ledger in interleague play.






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