DC-Pittsburgh Round Three, Nova v Strasburg & Notes

Today: The game starts at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Max Moroff 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, David Freese 3B, Jordy SS & Ivan Nova P. Fraze and Colin take seats; Mad Max and Freeser join the lineup. Odd that Clint brings in a pair of right-siders; RHH are batting .188 v Strasburg and Freeser is 0-for-8 (w/three walks) v him. Odder still that Max is batting leadoff, although he did have a .359 OBP in the minors (.300 MLB).

The Bucs need a super effort from Super Nova (image Positively Pittsburgh)

Pitchers: RHP Ivan Nova (2-1, 3.32) duels RHP Stephen Strasburg (2-3, 3.63). Noiva has been on a roll, pitching solidly in his last four outings and working an eight-inning shutout in his last start against the Tigers. He's only faced the Nats three times; last year's appearance only lasted two innings after he was hit in the hand while batting. Overall, he's 1-1/3.29 against the DC nine. Strasburg was beat up a bit in his last outing against the D-backs and made a couple of post-game comments regarding his club's effort (or lack thereof), so we'll see if that has any effect, one way or another, tonight. He's owned the Bucs, going 5-2/2.38 in eight career starts with 71 K in 56-2/3 IP and a 0.794 WHIP.

Notes:

• Jordy has an eight-game hitting streak going on.
• Corey D has homered in back-to-back games and three times in his last six contests.
• Under the radar but Richard Rodríguez has 15 punchouts over 9-1/3 IP.
• Joe Musgrove's next step is a four-inning/65 pitches outing Sunday with Altoona.
• Per Elias Sports Bureau, major-league batters have driven in only 52% of runners from 3rd base with less than 2 outs this season. The last time the percentage was that low over an entire season was 45 years ago (52% in 1973).