Strasburg, Bumgarner in Fourth of July showdown (game under way)

Stephen Strasburg's second chapter of this season continues this morning in a showdown with reigning World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. The first 10 starts of 2015 were mostly disastrous for Strasburg, who ended up on 15-day disabled list on May 30 with a 6.55 ERA accompanying his trapezius strain.

But a clearly more confident Strasburg has emerged from his DL stint to claim victories for the Nationals in his last two outings. Six days ago, Strasburg stifled the Phillies, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out a season-high nine batters over seven innings.

It won't get any easier for the Nationals' struggling offense facing Bumgarner today. The 25-year-old is 8-4 with a 2.99 ERA and has pitched into the seventh inning in all but two of his 16 starts this season. He notched his 1,000th career strikeout in a win over Colorado on June 28. Bumgarner is also a threat at the plate. He smacked his second home run of the season in that game and is batting .235 on the season.

Clint Robinson provided the fireworks last night with a two-run homer off Giants starter Jake Peavy. But it was just one of three hits the Nats managed in the 2-1 victory. The slumping Nats bats have managed just four runs and 12 hits over their past their past three games.

The Nationals handed Bumgarner his only loss in last year's postseason in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Denard Span gets a day off with the quick turnaround from last night's game. Michael A. Taylor will start in center field and lead off in place of Span. Taylor had an 18-game on-base streak end last night.

Update: The start of today's game has been delayed to 11:20 a.m due to weather.

Update II: The game has started after a delay of 19 minutes.

For the Giants:

CF Gregor Blanco
2B Joe Panik
3B Chris Duffy
C Buster Posey
1B Brandon Belt
SS Brandon Crawford
LF Ryan Lollis
RF Justin Maxwell
LHP Madison Bumgarner

For the Nationals:

CF Michael A. Taylor
3B Yunel Escobar
RF Bryce Harper
C Wilson Ramos
1B Clint Robinson
2B Danny Espinosa
SS Ian Desmond
LF Tyler Moore
RHP Stephen Strasburg