Oh, what a difference a year can make.\u00a0The Philadelphia Phillies arrive in D.C. in unfamiliar territory, as they sit in dead last in the NL East, while the division-leading Washington Nationals -a place the Nats are not all that familiar with either –try to win their 14th victory in the last 18 meetings with Philly. <\/p>\n
PHI: Cliff Lee (1-6, 3.95 ERA) v WAS: Stephen Strasburg (11-4, 2.76 ERA) Matchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Philadelphia (45-57) hasn’t finished a season below .500 since they went 80-81 in 2002 (oddly enough the same record Washington posted in 2011), and things don’t look like they’re going to improve anytime soon as they head into the opener of their three-game series with Washington fresh off being swept in Atlanta over the weekend.<\/p>\n To make things even worse, they were outscored 14-4 in those three games.<\/p>\n Now they must face rising ace Stephen Strasburg who will look to keep Washington (61-40) rolling, as they pile up the wins, having won eight of nine after Sunday’s 11-10, 11-inning victory at Milwaukee.<\/p>\n The 24-year old right-hander fanned 11 in seven innings as the Nationals completed a sweep of the tumbling New York Mets with a 5-2 victory his last time out.\u00a0[dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n He is 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA in nine home starts this season, but wasn’t at his best against the Phillies on May 4 when he allowed three runs in six innings. Nevertheless, the Nats escaped with a 4-3 victory in 11 innings in that one.<\/p>\n Washington has now won 13 of the last 17 matchups – a run that started with a 10-2 win over Cliff Lee on May 31, 2011.<\/p>\n At the moment Lee, the subject of many trade rumors, will take the hill to try and stop the bleeding for the Phillies.<\/p>\n The left-hander had gone 1-1 with a 2.05 ERA in his previous three outings, but now has lost his last two starts with a 5.84 ERA versus Washington.<\/p>\n
\nDate\/Time: Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 7:05 PM ET
\nVenue: Nationals Park, Washington D.C.
\nBroadcast: CSN (Philadelphia), MASN2 (Washington)
\nSpread: Nats -139
\nOver\/Under: 6.5<\/strong><\/p>\n