Washington @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( May 13, 2014 ) Washington 1, Arizona 3

The Arizona Diamondbacks try for their fourth straight series victory - and first at home this season - when they meet the Washington Nationals on Wednesday in the finale of their three-game series. Arizona (16-26) won for the eighth time in its last 12 games and improved to 4-14 at Chase Field as Bronson Arroyo pitched his 16th complete game in the Diamondbacks' 3-1 victory Tuesday. "You just want to get it done at home to show there's not some sort of jinx going on," Arroyo told reporters.

"We just have to keep the momentum going and keep winning series," Arizona's Miguel Montero told mlb.com. "We'll play one game at a time and then see what happens. But so far, we are playing better than what we have, and we are starting to feel better about the team." Washington fell to 1-4 on its six-game road trip - scoring 11 runs during that span - as it misses the injured Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche in the lineup. Doug Fister struggled with his command in his 2014 debut - and first start in a Washington uniform - and opposes Brandon McCarthy, who is coming off his worst outing of the season.

TV: 3:40 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Doug Fister (0-1, 10.38 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Brandon McCarthy (1-6, 5.66)

Fister, who strained a lat muscle late in spring training, left a lot of pitches up in the zone and yielded seven runs (five earned) and three homers among nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of an 8-0 loss at Oakland on Friday. “Lack of execution,” said the 30-year-old, who was acquired from Detroit during the offseason. “I failed (Friday night). And didn’t go out there and get the job done.” Fister, who was 32-20 in three-plus seasons with the Tigers, has never faced Arizona.

McCarthy retired the first nine batters in order before recording only one out in the fourth as the Chicago White Sox exploded for seven runs and nine hits en route to a 9-3 victory on Friday. "I have no idea what happened; I really don't know," the 30-year-old told reporters after matching a career high for runs allowed. "I don't know if they changed their approach or just got super aggressive. I was throwing a lot of strikes, they just started jumping on everything." McCarthy yielded two runs in seven innings of a 2-0 loss to Washington on Sept. 28 - his final outing of 2013 and his only career appearance against the Nationals.

WALK-OFFS

1. Arizona RHP Brad Ziegler has a scoreless streak of 18 1/3 innings, the longest active run in the majors.

2. Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt is 4-for-7 in the series after recording two doubles Tuesday.

3. Montero on Tuesday drove in his 400th career run.

PREDICTION: Nationals 3, Diamondbacks 2