San Francisco @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2016 ) Washington 1, San Francisco 3

Riding some momentum after wrapping up a road trip with a dominating sweep at Arizona, the Washington Nationals will host the San Francisco Giants on Friday night in the opener of an eight-game homestand. Washington amassed 32 runs in a three-game set against the Diamondbacks to finish 6-3 on the nine-game trek.

Holding a comfortable seven-game lead over Miami atop the National League East, the Nationals split a four-game series at San Francisco last week. Daniel Murphy, batting an NL-best .358, was 7-for-12 with a homer, four RBIs and six runs scored in the sweep at Arizona. The NL West-leading Giants averted a three-game sweep at Philadelphia on Thursday to improve to 5-13 since the All-Star break. San Francisco had dropped nine of 10 away from home before posting a 3-2 win over the Phillies on Denard Span's 10th-inning homer.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, CSN Bay Area (San Francisco), MASN (Washington)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Jeff Samardzija (9-7, 4.30 ERA) vs. Nationals LH Gio Gonzalez (6-9, 4.29)

Samardzija initially was scheduled to start Thursday's series finale at Philadelphia but was pushed back one day following the acquisition of Matt Moore from Tampa Bay. The extra rest can't hurt Samardzija, who has surrendered 14 runs over 16 2 /3 innings while going 0-2 over his last three outings. Murphy is 6-for-12 with a homer and four RBIs against Samardzija, who gave up four runs in six innings in last week's loss to Washington.

Gonzalez got off to a brilliant start this season only to unravel over an ugly six-week span, but he appears to be rounding back into form despite a loss to the Giants in his last outing. Gonzalez allowed one earned run over six innings in a 3-1 setback at San Francisco, the fourth straight start in which he has yielded two earned runs or fewer. Hunter Pence and recently acquired Eduardo Nunez are a combined 2-for-27 against Gonzalez.

WALK-OFFS

1. Murphy was named the NL Player of the Month and Nationals RHP Stephen Strasburg was selected as NL Pitcher of the Month for July.

2. Span, who played for Washington in the previous three seasons, is 8-for-16 with five runs scored during a four-game hitting streak.

3. Nationals RF Bryce Harper has four hits in his last 38 at-bats.

PREDICTION: Nationals 5, Giants 3