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Rested Cubs, Nats hope to get one in at Wrigley

Aug 9, 2011 - 2:44 PM (Sports Network) - Hard-throwing Chicago righty Matt Garza makes his third career start against the Washington Nationals tonight when the Cubs head home to Wrigley Field for another try at beginning a three-game series.

The teams were scheduled to start the set Monday, but the opener was postponed due to rain and a forecast of wet weather throughout the night.

Instead, today's game becomes the opener with Monday's matchup scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 2:20 p.m.

Garza, in his first year in the National League, faced Washington on July 7 at Nationals Park and was raked for seven runs -- six earned -- on eight hits across just two innings in a game the Cubs won, 10-9.

In two lifetime meetings against the Nationals, he's allowed 15 hits and 10 runs, nine of which were earned, in just 7 2/3 innings.

The California native is 3-1 in his last 10 starts, including a 1-0 win at Pittsburgh on Aug. 3 at PNC Park, where he allowed just four hits in seven innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.

He was 15-10 in 33 appearances with Tampa Bay in 2010.

The Cubs saw a seven-game win streak come to an end Sunday, as Ryan Hanigan capped a back-and-forth affair with an eighth-inning RBI single as the Cincinnati Reds avoided a three-game sweep with an 8-7 victory.

Marlon Byrd went 3-for-3 with two RBI, while Blake DeWitt hit a two-run homer and Starlin Castro belted a solo blast for the Cubs.

Sean Marshall (5-5) surrendered the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth to suffer the loss.

On Sunday in Denver, Jayson Werth singled in Danny Espinosa in the eighth to lead Washington past Colorado, 3-2, in the finale of a four-game set at Coors Field.

Jonny Gomes added a two-run homer for the Nationals, winners in six of nine.

Tyler Clippard (2-0) picked up the win for Washington. John Lannan started the game and gave up just one run on six hits over six-plus frames.

Taiwan-born righty Chien-Ming Wang makes his third start of the season for the Nationals after returning from a two-year big-league absence.

A 19-game winner with the New York Yankees in 2006 and 2007, Wang was limited by injury to just nine wins over 27 appearances in 2008-09.

He returned to the majors on July 29 against the New York Mets and took an 8-5 loss after allowing eight hits and six runs in four innings. Start No. 2 with Washington on Aug. 3 saw him surrender seven hits and six runs in five innings of a 6-4 loss to Atlanta.

Wang has faced the Cubs once in 111 career outings and earned a victory after allowing just a run on five hits in eight innings with a walk and five strikeouts.

The Nationals have won three of four meetings with Chicago this season -- all in DC -- after the Cubs took four of six matchups a year ago.