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Nationals eye sweep of Cubs

Jul 7, 2011 - 2:54 PM (Sports Network) - Veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez can stretch his unbeaten streak to nearly a month and clinch a sweep for his team when the Washington Nationals finish up a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs tonight at Nationals Park.

The Nationals made it three straight against their visitors on Wednesday night, when Michael Morse scored on Wilson Ramos' bunt in the seventh inning, lifting Washington to a 5-4 victory.

Each of the Nationals' last 10 victories has come by either one run or in extra innings.

Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa homered for Washington and Zimmerman finished with three hits.

Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena had the Cubs' homers, but Chicago lost for the fifth time in six games.

Hernandez makes his 23rd start against Chicago in a major-league career that stretches back to his initial appearance with the Florida Marlins as a 21- year-old in 1996.

Now 36, he's subsequently pitched for San Francisco, Montreal, the Nationals, Arizona, Minnesota, Colorado, the Nationals again, the New York Mets and the Nationals yet again, while compiling a 171-171 record over 3,062 innings.

The Cuban export is 11-7 against Chicago with a 4.16 earned run average in those 22 previous matchups and hasn't lost in 2011 since June 9, when he went 5 1/3 innings on the short end of a 7-3 verdict at San Diego.

He's 2-0 in four starts since, including a shutout of St. Louis and a 2-1 defeat of the White Sox in Chicago, where he struck out nine and scattered eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Nationals are 6-12 in his 18 starts this season.

He'll match up with first-year Cub Matt Garza, who came over from Tampa Bay in an offseason trade and had won two straight decisions at the end of June before a hard-luck loss to the White Sox five days ago.

In that game, the California-born righty allowed just four hits and struck out seven while going the distance in a 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field.

It was the seventh complete game of his career, which has spanned 136 appearances since he reached the majors with the Minnesota Twins in 2006.

He's made one career start against Washington and got a no-decision after allowing three runs and striking out five batters in 5 2/3 innings.

The Cubs are 5-10 in games he's pitched.

The Cubs took four of six from the Nats last season and have won 11 of the previous 18 overall matchups. The last time the Montreal/Washington franchise swept the Cubs in four games was June 6-9, 1997.