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The Dodgers finish up their road trip with three games against the Nationals in Washington D.C., and after seven different starting pitchers in the last seven games the rotation returns to a sense of normalcy on Monday night with old reliable Zack Greinke.
The right-hander has gone a modern-record 18 straight starts allowing two or fewer runs, dating back to last July. He has allowed 28 total runs over his last 22 regular season starts, going 14-2 with a 1.69 ERA during that span, with 142 strikeouts and 28 walks in 144 innings.
Greinke faced the Nationals twice in 2013 in his first season with the Dodgers, and allowed one run each time. In four career starts against the franchise (including one in 2004 against the Expos), Greinke is 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA. Denard Span is the only Nationals player with more than eight plate appearances against Greinke, and is 9-for-31 (.290/.333/.387) with a double, triple and two walks against him.
With 46 strikeouts and just six walks in his six starts, Greinke is striking out batters at a career-high rate of 32.4% of his batters faced this season.
Jordan Zimmermann gets the call for the Nationals in the opener. While Greinke is second in the National League with a 7.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Zimmermann is 13th at 4.38. Zimmermann allowed five runs while recording just five outs on April 9, but has pitched four consecutive quality starts since with a 2.05 ERA during that span with 25 strikeouts and five walks.
Hanley Ramirez is 9-for-20 (.450) with a home run, a double and two walks against Zimmermann, Matt Kemp is 5-for-12 (.417) with two home runs and a double, and Carl Crawford is 3-for-8 (.375) with a double and a walk. Adrian Gonzalez is 4-for-12 (.333) with a double and Andre Ethier is 3-for-10 (.300) with a walk.
The Dodgers have beaten the Nationals five straight times and have won 15 of their last 20 meetings, dating back to 2010, including 6-3 in their last nine games at Nationals Park.
Game info
Time: 4:05 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA