On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Nationals will be on the hunt to get back into the win column, left-handed starter Tom Gorzelanny (0-1, 5.56 ERA) will be looking for more consistency and the St. Louis Cardinals will be battling to throw a wrench in the gears of those plans. The Nationals and Cardinals will finish off a three-game series at Busch Stadium in a rubber match. The two teams split a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday.
As the Nationals fifth starter, Gorzelanny's first two outings were more than serviceable, but he has had trouble with the longballs. He has given up a home run in each game he has pitched and leads all Nationals pitchers in home runs surrendered with three. Gorzelanny will have his work cut out for him if he is going to keep the ball in the park, as he faces a potent Cardinals lineup that isn't shy about knocking a few out.
The Nationals offense will square off with Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse (2-1, 2.82 ERA), who has gone seven-innings in all three of his starts in 2011 and has a 3-1 record against the Nats since he joined the Cardinals.
Nationals Lineup
Danny Espinosa - 2B
Rick Ankiel - CF
Jayson Werth - RF
Adam Laroche - 1B
Ian Desmond - SS
Michael Morse - LF
Ivan Rodriguez - C
Alex Cora - 3B
Tom Gorzelanny - SP