It's Hammel against Zimmermann on the mound tonight at the Yard

A few words about tonight's starting pitchers: Jason Hammel, who is 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA makes his 14th start of the year for the Orioles. He is coming off of pitching the 33rd one-hitter in O's history when he beat Atlanta 5-0 with eight strikeouts last Saturday. In 20 games (15 starts) since he was moved to the Colorado bullpen last Aug. 24, Hammel is 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 106 innings. Opponents are batting .210 against him in that span. In six career starts against the Nats, Hammel is 4-0 with a 3.99 ERA and four quality starts. In five starts at home this season, he is 3-0 with a 2.53 ERA. Ryan Zimmerman is 7-for-17 with a homer against him. Roger Bernadina is 4-for-7 with two RBIs. Jordan Zimmermann is 3-5 with a 2.92 ERA in 13 starts for the Nationals and gets the ball tonight. He has walked just 16 with 62 strikeouts over 83 1/3 innings. With runners in scoring position, he gives up a batting average of just .118 this year (8-for-68). He has recorded three consecutive quality starts, giving up seven earned runs over 19 innings, and has recorded an impressive percentage of 11 quality starts in 13 outings in 2012. In six road starts, he is 3-2 with a 2.54 ERA and he has been tough to hit early in games this year and has an ERA of 0.92 over the first three innings of his starts.