NL East Division rivals will battle on Monday night, when the Philadelphia Phillies invade the nation’s capital to face the Washington Nationals. The Phillies (66-64) are riding a three-game winning streak and trail Atlanta by 4.5 games for first place. On Sunday, Philadelphia 2B Jean Segura had two hits and scored a pair of runs during a 7-4 home victory versus Arizona.
Thirty-one year old righty Zack Wheeler (10-9 2.90 ERA) has appeared to hit the wall for the Phillies. Wheeler has lost three consecutive starts and has been tagged for 15 runs over his last 20 plus frames.
The Washington Nationals are two games below .500 at home and are sitting near the bottom of the division standings. On Sunday, Washington SP Erick Fedde (6-9) surrendered six runs in five plus innings during a 9-4 road loss against New York. Josh Bell homered twice and Juan Soto added a solo shot in a losing effort for the Nationals (55-74).
Rookie right-hander Josiah Gray (0-1 3.75 ERA) will make his seventh career major league start. Through 36 innings, Gray has struck out 42 batters and owns a solid 1.19 WHIP.
