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Nationals face Marlins, aim for first series win

May 12, 2007 - 1:33 PM Florida (16-19) at Washington (10-25) 7:05 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- After narrowly avoiding their longest skid in franchise history, the Washington Nationals will look for their first series win of the season when they face the Florida Marlins on Saturday.

Shawn Hill and Winston Abreu combined to pitch six hitless innings and Cristian Guzman had three hits and scored three runs as the Nationals recorded a 6-0 victory over the Marlins on Friday, snapping an eight-game skid.

The victory helped the Washington-Montreal franchise avoid its longest losing streak since the end of the 2000 season. Prior to the win, Washington had been outscored, 37-18, during the eight-game slide with a .204 batting average.

The victory was the Nationals' first in the month of May and the six runs was the most they have scored since plating the same number in their last meeting against Florida on April 22. Two of their five home wins have come at the expense of the Marlins.

Washington now aims to take the series behind rookie Matt Chico (2-4, 6.03 ERA), who is hoping to avoid his third straight loss. The lefthander allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings in a 3-0 loss to Milwaukee Monday.

Chico is 0-1 with an 11.42 ERA in two career starts vs. Florida.

The Marlins will counter with Ricky Nolasco (1-1, 7.30), who aims to rebound from his worst start of the season. He allowed season highs of six runs and 10 hits in six innings in a 6-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Monday.

Nolasco is 3-1 with a 4.82 ERA in five career games vs. the Nationals, including wins in his last two starts.