Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Dodgers (47-47) will kick off the second half of the season tonight at 7:05 in Washington, where they will try to stay hot against the Nationals (48-47) and ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg (5-7, 2.99 ERA). The game can be live streamed here; Dodgers fans can listen to the game on 570 Fox Sports LA, while Nationals fans can tune in on 106.7 The Fan.
The Nationals are in second place in the National League East standings, but find themselves six games behind the first place Atlanta Braves. Atlanta's entire outfield is battling injury, however, and there is plenty of time for Washington to catch up. They will need Strasburg to pitch like himself, though, which he did not do in his final two starts prior to the All-Star break.
Against the San Diego Padres, Strasburg made it through six innings and gave up four runs. In his next start Strasburg imploded, making it through only two frames and surrendering seven runs on five hits, four walks and two strikeouts.
Discussing his recent troubles, Strasburg said "You just have to hang in there, I guess. It's tough. It happens to everybody. It's all about how you bounce back. You are always trying to get better, always trying to learn. It's these types of games where you have nothing working. You take a step back, just pick it apart a little bit. You kind of see the flaws a little bit more."
The Dodgers will send their newest starter, Ricky Nolasco (6-9, 3.76 ERA) to the mound, who is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in Dodger blue. Nolasco will need to be wary of Bryce Harper, who has torched him to the tune of two home runs and nine hits in 20 at-bats. This season in limited time Harper is batting .264 with 13 homers.
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