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Orioles face Nationals in Beltway battle

May 18, 2007 - 1:11 PM Baltimore (18-23) at Washington (15-26) 7:05 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The "Battle of the Beltway" begins on Friday as the Baltimore Orioles visit the Washington Nationals in interleague play.

The teams split six meetings last season, with each team dropping two-of-three games at their home ballpark. If the Orioles' 5-16 road record is any indicator, the Nationals may have the advantage in this series.

Steve Trachsel (1-3, 3.94 ERA) starts for the Orioles, who have lost five in a row. As a member of the New York Mets last season, Trachsel was 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA in two starts against the Nationals.

The Orioles have lost each of their last four times Trachsel has taken the mound.

The Nationals, who have won six of their last seven games, start Jason Simontacchi (1-1, 5.56). The righthander, who on Sunday earned a win for the first time since September 20, 2003, is making his third start of the season.

Simontacchi had been out of the league since 2004 due to shoulder surgery. He missed the entire 2005 season and was a reliever in an Independent League during the 2006 campaign.

The Baltimore lineup has been struggling as of late. The team is coming off back-to-back 2-1 defeats at the hand of the Toronto Blue Jays. Over those two games, Baltimore had just eight hits and Kevin Millar's solo home run on Wednesday was the only one of those hits to go for extra bases.

Washington's offense this season has not been that much better. The team is ranked 29th in the majors with a .231 batting average. The team also is ranked 29th in homers (18) and runs (132).

Baltimore is 73-102 in interleague play since it began in 1997, while the Nationals/Montreal Expos are 88-87.