The reeling Nationals haven't won since Gio Gonzalez last took the mound. Gonzalez twirled eight scoreless innings in the Nats' 8-3 win over the Dodgers on Monday night.
The left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA and 43 strikeouts over his last eight starts. According to Elias, the only other Washington pitcher to have at least five wins, no losses, an ERA under 1.50 and 40 strikeouts over an eight-game span was Senators Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.
Bryce Harper, 22, smacked his National League-leading 30th homer last night. The mammoth three-run shot broke a 14-game homerless streak for Harper and vaulted the young slugger into the record books.
Harper became just the 37th player in Major League Baseball history to crush at least 30 homers during his age 22 season or younger.
Harper leads the majors in slugging percentage (.647) and OPS (1.102) and ranks second in batting average (.332). He has reached base safely in 38 of his last 40 games.
After a 2-for-2 evening that included a double last night, Clint Robinson makes another start tonight. Ryan Zimmerman gets a night off with Robinson at first base. Robinson is hitting .285 with five homers, 15 doubles and 18 RBIs over his last 50 games.
Yunel Escobar's 34 multi-hit games is tied for tops on the Nats with Harper and ranks tied for 12th in the National League. Escobar's 122 hits leads all NL third baseman.
Anthony Rendon returns to the lineup tonight. The 25-year-old struck out in his lone at-bat last night. Rendon is 15-for-68 (.221) with one homer, three doubles and two RBIs in 19 games since returning from the disabled list.
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