The Washington Nationals have struggled against the St. Louis Cardinals which does not paint the best picture for their future this season. The team cannot get their bats moving and will try and avoid an eighth straight loss to the Cardinals.
Getting Bryce Harper back into the lineup did not help the effort. The outfielder is batting .520 in his last seven games, but he was scratched on Wednesday because of tightness in his quad. He has been dealing with this lingering injury for the last few weeks after slipping while running the bases. He is currently hitting just .217 against the Cardinals during the team's recent slide. When the Nationals faced them in the 2012 National League division series, Harper was just 3 for 23 with one home run and eight strikeouts.
The Cardinals will send Adam Wainwright to the mound who is 2-1 on the season. He has a 1.69 ERA against the Nationals in three consecutive starts against the team. Wainwright started strong, giving up just two runs and eight hits in his first two starts, but he gave up four runs and seven hits on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
Yadier Molina will carry the Cardinals. He has two hits and is batting .452 in his last eight games, but he has driven in six runs during a four-game streak against the Nationals. On the other side, Jayson Werth is looking to improve his luck against the Cardinals. He is just 5 for 23 with seven strikeouts against Wainwright.
