DETROIT - The Nationals go for their third series win in the last four in today's finale with former Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer starting for the Nats against former Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann.
Zimmermann has struggled through injuries this season and is 0-5 and looking for his first win. He will be on a pitch limit again today, but does not want to know the number.
"There is," Zimmermann said of the pitch count. "I don't really know that when I go into the start. I don't really want to know that anyway because then I'm looking at pitches and trying to get quick outs. Obviously, I want to have quick outs and I've been trying to do that my whole career. But if you know that you are at a 90-pitch limit and you see you got 60 pitches after three, you really are squeezing the ball and trying to make things happen which isn't ever a good thing."
Nats shortstop Trea Turner would love to bounce back after an 0-for-5 Saturday with three strikeouts. He is 0-for-9 in the series, but still hitting .290 in his last seven games.
"With Trea, it's just about chasing pitches," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "He's got to get the ball back in the strike zone and stay in the middle of the field. He's an aggressive hitter, so he's got to stay within himself and stay in the strike zone."
The All-Star Game participants will be announced today. Anthony Rendon and Scherzer look to have the best chance of being added to the National League All-Star roster. The announcement is expected at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Rendon went 3-for-4 Saturday with a homer, a run scored and an RBI. That was his first homer against Detroit in seven career games. He now has 25 multi-hit games this season. It was the fifth time this season he has had three hits in a game, the last time June 16 against Arizona.
Rendon said his consistent hitting is about focusing on each pitch.
"I think it's combination of many things, but when people say that the ball looks like a beach ball and things like that, I don't believe that because I've never seen a beach ball being thrown at me," Rendon said. "But you can definitely pick up pitches earlier. That's the one thing that I've cued in on: You can pick up spin earlier so you have more time to react. That's my big thing."
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at DETROIT TIGERS
Where: Comerica Park
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 79 degrees, winds 8 mph from right field towards third base
NATIONALS (41-41)
SS Trea Turner
RF Adam Eaton
3B Anthony Rendon
LF Juan Soto
DH Howie Kendrick
1B Matt Adams
C Kurt Suzuki
2B Brian Dozier
CF Victor Robles
RHP Max Scherzer
TIGERS (27-51)
CF JaCoby Jones
DH Nicholas Castellano
LF Christin Stewart
3B Jaimer Candelario
1B Brandon Dixon
SS Niko Goodrum
RF Harold Castro
2B Gordon Beckham
C Bobby Wilson
RHP Jordan Zimmermann
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