Burnett out with bruised thumb
In Sunday's win over the Brewers, left-handed reliever Sean Burnett took a one-hopper off of his pitching thumb in the seventh inning.
Burnett stayed with the play and got the final out, but didn't return for the eighth.
"I was going to have him continue, but when that happened, we took him out," interim manager Jim Riggleman said.
After the game, Burnett had an X-ray that came back negative.
"It just caught square on the tip of the thumb," Burnett said. "Nothing major, X-rays were fine... just a bruise, a bad bruise and hopefully in a couple days I'll be fine."
With Burnett possibly out for a couple games, Riggleman will need his starters to eat innings like Craig Stammen did yesterday.
This afternoon, in the series finale with the Brewers, Collin Balester (1-3, 6.75) will get a shot to even the series and pick up his second win of the season.
Balester is coming off his worst outing of the season, giving up three runs on three hits and five walks in 1 1/3 innings against the Rockies.
He was fortunate to have only allowed three as he walked the bases loaded and gave up a two-run double before recording an out.
The 23-year-old is looking for a repeat performance against the Brewers. On July 28, he held the Crew to two runs in six innings to earn the W in the Nationals' 8-3 victory.
Yovani Gallardo (11-10, 3.56), 1-3 in his last four starts, beat Washington on July 30. He held the Nationals to three runs in seven innings while striking out 11 in the 7-3 win at Miller Park.
Gallardo hasn't won on the road since beating the Indians on June 16, five starts ago. In that span he's 0-4 with a 5.74 ERA.
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