The Washington Nationals
http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-amed-rosario-jersey , who have won two straight division titles and three in the past four years, need
a miracle to make the playoffs this season.On Monday night, the Nationals
(76-74) visit the Miami Marlins to start a quick two-game series. The Nationals
enter Monday in third place in the NL East, trailing the division-leading
Atlanta Braves by 7.5 games.Article continues below ...The Nationals are also
six games out of the second and final wild-card spot with just 12 contests left
on their schedule. Worse yet, the Nationals trail five teams in the wild-card
standings.“It’s a bummer we’re not winning games,” Nationals right fielder Bryce
Harper told the media recently. “That’s the biggest thing on my mind.”If Harper
is disappointed, imagine how the Marlins feel. Miami (58-91) has the worst
record in the National League and the third-lowest win percentage in the
majors.Miami hasn’t won consecutive games since Aug. 24-25, and the Marlins have
gone 5-13 in that span.Monday’s pitching matchup features a pair of 25-year-old
rookie right-handers: Miami’s Trevor Richards against Washington’s Erick
Fedde.Richards (3-9, 4.85 ERA) has struck out at least seven batters in six of
his 22 games this season. He has a below-average fastball (90.8 as opposed to
the league norm of 93.1 mph). But he survives on a nasty changeup.Lately,
though, it appears teams have figured him out. In his past seven starts,
Richards is 0-4 with a 6.68 ERA.Perhaps a good omen for Richards is the fact
that he pitched six scoreless innings the only time he faced the Nationals at
Marlins Park this year, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking
out eight.Fedde (2-3
Devin Mesoraco Jersey , 5.12 ERA), a Las Vegas native, was Washington’s first-round pick in 2014, coming out of UNLV.His best pitch may be his hard (94
mph) slider, and this will be his first-ever start against the Marlins, so there
could be an adjustment required of Miami hitters.Fedde is coming off his best
start of the season, holding the Philadelphia Phillies scoreless for 5 2/3
innings on Tuesday, striking out nine while allowing just two hits.One of the
batters Fedde will have to pitch carefully to is Marlins right fielder Peter
O’Brien, a 6-4, 235-pounder who has massive power but has yet to get his major
league career untracked at age 28.A former University of Miami star, O’Brien was
picked up by the hometown Marlins earlier this month and has two homers and five
RBIs in his past three starts.“We’re going to get him extended playing time as
we finish up,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of O’Brien. “He has a good
approach and a feel for his game, which is that he can hit the ball out of the
ballpark.”Indeed
http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-jason-vargas-jersey , O’Brien hit 26 homers in 2013, 39 in 2014, 32 in 2015 and 29 in 2016. He hit
just 16 homers last year but has 32 this season in a bounce-back campaign.Still,
out of all those homes, only eight have come in the majors, where his career OPS
is just .699.“I’m looking to have quality at-bats,” O’Brien told the media on
Sunday when asked about his approach. “Consistency is the main thing.”Harper, of
course, is Washington’s big bat. He has 97 RBIs, 97 runs scored and 118 walks.
He is on track to become just the sixth player since 2014 to record 100 in each
of those categories.A free agent after this season ends, Harper — who turns 26
next month — needs to drive in two more runs to tie his career high.“I’m not
worried about my numbers because I am who I am,” Harper said. “That sounds bad,
but I am. On any given night
http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-pedro-martinez-jersey , I’m able to do things that are special.”Harper hit just .214 with an .833 OPS in
the first half of this season. But since then, he has hit .305 with a .985
OPS.The Nationals, who have won seven of their past nine games, have ridden the
hot bats of Harper, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto, among others.Rendon has
reached base in 25 consecutive games, hitting .330 during that span. He hit his
20th homer on Sunday, marking the third straight season he has reached that
milestone.Soto, 19, has reached base in 21 consecutive games. That ties Hall of
Famer Mickey Mantle for the second-longest streak by a teenager since 1920. Mel
Ott, who had a 22-game streak in 1928, owns the record. The Kansas City Royals
will try to wrap up a sweep of a second consecutive series Sunday when they go
for a third straight victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman
Stadium.Kansas City (44-91) swept a short two-game series with the Detroit
Tigers after taking two of three from the Cleveland Indians before that. The
Royals now have won four straight and already locked up a win in three straight
series for the first time in 2018.Jorge Lopez (0-4, 4.86 ERA) starts for Kansas
City against Baltimore’s David Hess (3-8
Giancarlo Stanton Jersey , 5.08). Lopez was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers with outfielder Brett Phillips for Mike Moustakas on July 27.Article
continues below ...Lopez will make his first career appearance against the
Orioles.Hess ended a seven-game losing streak in his last game, throwing six
shutout innings against Toronto in a 7-0 victory. He has turned in three quality
starts in his last three outings and has improved in a short time.This will be
the first time Hess faces Kansas City in his brief major-league career.The
Royals are coming off a 5-4 victory Saturday night. Whit Merrifield belted the
winning two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on an 0-2 pitch off
Orioles closer Mychal Givens.Merrifield stretched his on-base streak to 21
games, which ties his career high. It’s the second-longest current streak in the
major leagues behind Houston’s Alex Bregman (29).Kansas City also might give
rookie Meibrys Viloria his first major league start at catcher. With starter
Salvador Perez out (sprained thumb) and backup Cam Gallagher having played the
last few games (since the trade of Drew Butera), Viloria could get the start
after being called up all the way from Class A.“They say the bigger the game,
the better he plays,” Royals manager Ned Yost told the media. “That’s always a
good sign.”The Orioles also made a move Saturday. They called up infielder
Breyvic Valera but are likely to bring up more players with the rosters being
expanded. Baltimore acquired Valera from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Manny
Machado trade in late July.Baltimore will have to bounce back from Saturday’s
loss, in which it twice led before Kansas City kept battling back. The loss
dropped Givens to 0-7 this season on a night where his command and control were
once again an issue.He walked the first batter in the ninth with the Orioles
leading 4-3, and that proved costly as it set the stage for Merrifield.Still,
the Orioles have fared much better on offense in the last few weeks. They scored
four runs and banged out 13 hits, but missed on several scoring chances. That’s
all part of the growing process for a team with a number of young players trying
to find their way.“We just couldn’t get it done at the end,” Orioles manager
Buck Showalter told MASN in a postgame interview. “There’s good and bad and
always something to build on.”
