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Washington looks to win rubber match against Arizona

Jul 10, 2008 - 11:11 AM Arizona (45-46) at Washington (35-57), 7:10 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Nationals look to build on a winning performance as they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the rubber match of a three-game series on Thursday.

The Nationals snapped a six-game losing streak on Wednesday, finally giving starter John Hannan run support en route to a 5-0 win. The victory was the Nationals' third shutout of Arizona this season.

They will send Jason Bergmann (1-6, 4.15 ERA) to the mound. The 26-year-old righthander has lost five straight decisions but also could sue for non-support, having allowed only five runs in his past 26 innings.

The Nationals are last in the major leagues in runs scored, which could bode well for Arizona starter Dan Haren (8-5, 2.83).

Haren, who was elected to pitch for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game, has held opponents to two runs or less in six of his past seven starts. He hasn't allowed more than three runs in an outing since May 27 against the San Francisco Giants.

The Diamondbacks dropped below .500 and were denied their first three-game winning streak in nearly two months with Wednesday's loss. They are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West.