Nationals look to stop skid in game against the Rays

Audio By Carbonatix

Tampa Bay Rays (64-69, fourth in the AL East) vs. Washington Nationals (53-80, fifth in the NL East)

Washington; Friday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Adrian Houser (7-4, 2.88 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 62 strikeouts); Nationals: Mitchell Parker (7-14, 6.01 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 87 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Rays -142, Nationals +119; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals come into a matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays after losing five straight games.

Washington has a 53-80 record overall and a 26-39 record in home games. The Nationals are 33-11 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.

Tampa Bay is 30-36 on the road and 64-69 overall. The Rays have the eighth-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .314.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: James Wood leads the Nationals with 26 home runs while slugging .480. C.J. Abrams is 11 for 40 with a double, a home run and five RBIs over the past 10 games.

Yandy Diaz leads the Rays with a .286 batting average, and has 25 doubles, a triple, 22 home runs, 41 walks and 74 RBIs. Jake Mangum is 14 for 41 with four RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 3-7, .243 batting average, 6.56 ERA, outscored by 22 runs

Rays: 4-6, .245 batting average, 4.54 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Drew Millas: day-to-day (finger), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), Keibert Ruiz: 7-Day IL (concussion), Derek Law: 60-Day IL (forearm), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Rays: Stuart Fairchild: 60-Day IL (oblique), Ha-Seong Kim: 10-Day IL (back), Taylor Walls: 10-Day IL (groin), Jonny Deluca: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jonathan Aranda: 10-Day IL (wrist), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (forearm), Hunter Bigge: 60-Day IL (lat), Richie Palacios: 60-Day IL (knee), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (tricep), Alex Faedo: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nathan Lavender: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.