Tuesday night's opener of a three-game set between the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals was rained out, so unsung aces Anibal Sanchez of the Tigers and Jordan Zimmerman of the Nationals will duke it out tonight at 7:05 p.m., at Nationals Park. Fans of the Tigers and Nationals can live stream the duel free of charge by clicking this link. Nationals fans can also listen to the game at WNEW 99.1 while Tigers fans should tune in to 97.1 The Ticket.
Sanchez has been lights out in 2013, posting a 3-2 record with a 1.89 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 50 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. Sanchez has gone less than six innings only once this season, and two starts ago struck out an eye-popping 17 Atlanta Braves. He is currently tied for seventh among all Major League starters in wins above replacement (1.9), fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.3), and tied for 10th with teammate Justin Verlander in total strikeouts (50). Sanchez has also terrorized the Nationals dating back to his days as a Marlin, according to ESPN.com. He owns an 8-0 career record against Washington in 19 starts, with a 1.97 ERA.
Opposing him will be Jordan Zimmerman, who often escapes the spotlight's glare while it is trained on the brilliance or health of Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. Zimmerman has the lowest ERA of any National (1.64) as well as the lowest WHIP (0.75) and most wins (5). He is not the strikeout machine that teammates Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are, but he has been Washington's best starter through the early portion of the 2013 season.
Zimmerman hasn't given up a run in 18 innings, and catcher Kurt Suzuki said his approach toward hitters is helping. "He's obviously got everything working right now. He's pitching up in the zone, down in the zone, in and out, he's really mixing it up with his breaking balls, he's throwing breaking balls for strikes."
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