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Nationals hope to back Bergmann with rare offensive support

Aug 2, 2008 - 10:29 AM Cincinnati (51-59) at Washington (39-70) 7:10 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Nationals are going through somewhat of an offensive resurgence. If it continues, it would be much to the delight of Jason Bergmann.

The righthander eyes his first win since mid-May on Saturday when the Nationals continue their series with the Cincinnati Reds.

With 14 runs over its last three games, Washington has been more productive than it was during the first seven games of its season-high-tying nine-game slide, when it scored a total of 10 runs.

The Nationals finally ended their losing ways in the series opener as Elijah Dukes returned from the disabled list to go 2-for-4 with two RBI in a 5-2 win.

That kind of offensive support would be a welcome sight for Bergmann (1-8, 4.13 ERA), who is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak despite allowing two runs or less in seven of his last eight outings.

At the heart of his winless stretch has been an offense that has provided him with a total of nine runs over his last 13 starts. In Sunday's 2-0 loss to the Dodgers, he was a hard-luck loser once again after allowing two runs and six hits over six frames.

His opponent will Josh Fogg (2-3, 7.84), who will be looking to rebound from a dreadful outing. The righthander surrendered seven runs and eight hits over 3 2/3 innings in Sunday's 11-0 loss against Colorado.