Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET, the Baltimore Orioles (48-40) and Washington Nationals (48-39) take the field for the opening game of the Battle of the Beltways home-and-home four-game series live from Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The game can be live streamed for free here. Baltimore fans can hear all of the action on 1090 WBAL while Washington fans can do the same on WFED 1500.
Baltimore continues a six-game road trip after taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox with one postponement while Washington continues an eight-game homestand it is 5-1 on thus far. The Orioles enter play in first place in the American League East while the Nationals are in second place in the National League East, a half-game behind the first place Atlanta Braves.
Chris Tillman (7-4, 4.21 ERA) toes the rubber for the Orioles while Washington counters with Stephen Strasburg, who is 7-6 with a 3.53 ERA thus far this season.
Strasburg is coming off of an outing where he allowed one run on five hits with eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings.
"I was able to command the fastball a little bit better," Strasburg, who leads the NL with 113 strikeouts, told MLB.com. "They were fouling them off. I wouldn't say they were great pitches. I was able to execute the pitch a little bit better. I had them put it in play and make weak contact."
Orioles manager Buck Showalter used to manage Nationals skipper Matt Williams, but he said he'll save the fuzzy feelings for after the series.
"[I'll] be happy for him after we get done," Showalter said via MLB.com. "I'd hate to have to play them much more than the four games we have it."
Baltimore outfielder Nelson Cruz is tied for the MLB lead with 27 homers and is in sole possession of first in the league with 71 RBI and 195 total bases. Cruz is fifth in the American League with a .585 slugging percentage.
Orioles outfielder Adam Jones is leads the team with a .310 average and ranks fourth in the AL with 182 total bases and ranks second with 112 hits while fellow outfielder Nick Markakis is fourth in hits (106).
Washington outfielder Denard Span is third the NL with 28 doubles while Adam LaRoche leads the team with a .294 batting average and is fourth in the NL with a .401 on-base percentage. Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond leads the team with 15 homers and 53 RBI.
The 2014 Battle of the Beltways gets underway when the Orioles and Nationals clash at Nationals Park tonight in Washington, D.C.
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