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Nationals hope to avoid third straight shutout

Jun 3, 2008 - 1:01 PM St. Louis (34-25) at Washington (24-34) 7:10 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - The Washington Nationals are far from a prolific offense. However, their recent production, or lack thereof, is almost shameful.

The Nationals hope to avoid a third consecutive shutout loss on Tuesday when they begin a three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Washington, which owns the major's third-worst offense, ranks last in baseball with a .231 team batting average. However, the team was held scoreless in its last two games against Arizona over the weekend.

The club has not lost three straight via shutout since April 13-15, 2004, when the team was based in Montreal.

And with Ryan Zimmerman placed on the disabled list Monday with a small tear in his left shoulder, the Nationals' four-game home winning streak vs. the Cardinals figures to be in danger.

With its struggling offense missing its leading run producer, Washington will turn to Odalis Perez (2-4, 4.14 ERA) to post another inspired performance. After undergoing a root canal earlier in the morning, the lefthander allowed three runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 6-4 win vs. San Diego on Wednesday.

He'll be opposed by Kyle Lohse (5-2, 4.02), who has won each of his last two starts. The righthander allowed a run and five hits over six frames in Thursday's 3-2 win over Houston.