Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET the Washington Nationals (60-49) will host the Baltimore Orioles (62-48) for one game to make up for a previously postponed matchup. Tonight's clash will feature two promising young starters-Tanner Roark (11-6, 2.74 ERA) for the Nationals and Kevin Gausman (5-3, 3.70 ERA) of the Orioles. Fans can live stream the game by clicking this link; Orioles fans can hear the radio broadcast on 1090 WBAL, while Nationals fans can do likewise on 106.7 The Fan.
The Orioles pack a heck of a power punch throughout their lineup, but Roark may be capable of cooling them off. He's gone seven innings and given up just one run in four straight starts.
"Tanner continues to pitch well for us," Nationals skipper Matt Williams said. "He pitched pretty well, he kept us in the game."
While he doesn't have the type of knockout stuff his counterpart Gausman has, Roark has a good arsenal of four effective pitches he uses to induce groundballs, which comprise 44 percent of his outs according to Fangraphs.
In addition to Roark's hot streak, the Orioles offense has experienced a little bit of a slump. Manager Buck Showalter credits the O's pitching staff for maintaining the team's success of late, and hopes both units can click at the same time for his division-leading squad.
"As many times as we come here after a game knowing the offense picked up the pitching, it's kind of evened out," Showalter said. "If we can get both going -- as every team tries to do -- it would be a little more fun."
The key to that will be outfielder Nelson Cruz regaining his form. Cruz has batted just .110 over his last 20 games.
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