Chicago @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 26, 2011 ) Washington 2, Chi. White Sox 1
A pair of veteran pitchers will face foes from their former leagues when Gio Gonzalez and the Washington Nationals play host to Jake Peavy and the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game interleague series Tuesday. Chicago boasts the best ERA in the American League at 2.41 but the White Sox will have to deal with red-hot Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who is batting .360 with three home runs in his second big-league season.
The Nationals' ballyhooed pitching staff was dominant in a season-opening three-game sweep of Miami, but Washington pitchers were touched up while dropping two of three at Cincinnati over the weekend.The White Sox have claimed two of three in each of their first two series. The White Sox swept three games from the Nationals in their last trip to the nation's capital in 2010, but Washington claimed two of three in Chicago in the most recent meeting in 2011.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, WCIU (Chicago), Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (Washington), MLB Network
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Jake Peavy (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Nationals LH Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00)
Peavy pitched around a sloppy defensive effort from the White Sox in his first start of the season, holding the Royals to two runs — one earned — over six innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Peavy is 4-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) against the Nationals, and he has held them scoreless for 13 innings over his last two outings against them.
Gonzalez was outstanding on the mound and at the plate in his season debut, tossing six scoreless innings of two-hit ball and hitting a home run in a 3-0 win over Miami. The left-hander was drafted by the White Sox in 2004, and he hasn't fared well against them, going 0-4 with a 5.86 ERA in five starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Nationals' active roster is a combined 27-for-126 (.214) against Peavy. Adam LaRoche is 4-for-11 with two homers; he has missed the past two games with a stiff back but is expected to play.
2. Chicago ranks 13th in the American League in runs scored (22) but tied for second in home runs (11). Fifteen of the team's 22 runs have come on homers.
3. White Sox 1B Paul Konerko is 1-for-12 with four strikeouts against Gonzalez.
PREDICTION: Nationals 4, White Sox 2