Milwaukee @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 16, 2010 ) Milwaukee 3, Washington 5

The Washington Nationals have dealt with a lot of problems in the season’s early days. They’ve watched their best player - Ryan Zimmerman (hamstring) - sit for the last five days and can’t seem to get consistent starting pitching. But the Nationals keep seeming to find ways to rally and win. They bounced back to surprise the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5, on Thursday. Then, they scored three runs in the eighth Friday night for a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Now, on Saturday, the picture is even brighter because Livan Hernandez starts in the second game of the three-game series. Hernandez was spectacular last weekend in his victory over the New York Mets, and he’d take pressure off the Washington offense with another good effort. Hernandez teased and tantalized New York last weekend with his different speeds and different pitches. He’ll probably make life tough for Milwaukee (4-6) also since the Brewers are a free-swinging power team. Hernandez also should help the Nationals (5-5) as he is one of baseball’s best-hitting pitchers. Washington also has received some big help from Josh Willingham and Nyjer Morgan in Zimmerman's absence. Willingham was 2-for-2 with a solo home run, but he reached base four times in Friday’s win. Morgan had an RBI triple plus a stolen base. Manager Jim Riggleman said his team’s been playing some more small ball with Zimmerman out. They also had to do that Friday when Adam Dunn got tossed in the first inning for arguing a third strike call. The timing of that was difficult since it left the Nationals without much power. The Brewers have got to get some answers with their pitching. They ranked third-to-last in the National League heading into Friday’s game and couldn’t hold three separate one-run leads. The last inning was the most frustrating because LaTroy Hawkins hit one batter, gave up a hit, a sacrifice and later a two-run hit to Adam Kennedy that gave Washington the lead. The two-run shot was a ground ball right by first baseman Prince Fielder that he had a solid chance to grab. Randy Wolf will start Saturday against the Nationals, and the Brewers are hoping the veteran can settle down the rotation. But they need to find the right mix of good pitching and hitting at the right time. They’ve gotten some of both this season – but not all at once. And that's the problem right now.