How we see it goin' down: Nationals - Red Sox series

First Pitch: Friday 7:10, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:35

Arms: Friday: Stephen Strasburg, RHP (6-1 2.35 ERA) vs. Felix Doubront, LHP (6-2, 3.75 ERA)

Saturday: Gio Gonzalez, LHP (7-2, 2.31 ERA) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Sunday: Jordan Zimmermann, RHP (3-5, 2.82 ERA) vs. Jon Lester, RHP (3-4, 4.64 ERA)

                                   Yard: Fenway Park   Watch it: NESN  Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 32-23 (1st NL East)	Record: 29-28 (Last AL East)
On road: 14-13	At home: 14-16
Streak: Lost 1	Streak: Won 1
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Lombardozzi (.289)	Average: Podsednik (.387)
Homers: LaRoche (9)	Homers: Ortiz (13)
RBI: LaRoche (39)	RBI: Ortiz (37)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Gonzalez, G (7)	Wins: Buchholz/Doubront (6)
ERA: Gonzaelz, G (2.31) | Burnett (1.00)	ERA: Doubront (3.75) | Atchison (1.42)
K's: Gonzalez, G (84)	K's: Doubront (66)

Last time

This will be the first meeting between the Sox and Nats since June 23-25, 2009 in Washington. The Red Sox won the first two meetings before the Nationals salvaged game 3. How about this blast from the past...Jason Bay was one of the Sox' top performers in the series and John Smoltz appeared in a game for the Sox during a very brief stay with the club.

This time

Laser Show: Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Salty has been on a bit of a hot streak and I'm betting on him carrying it out through the Washington series and hopefully beyond. He has been clutch, more recently with the 9th inning home run off of the virtually un-hittable, Jim Johnson, to bring game 1 into extras. He is very comfortable at the plate and is swinging a very good bat.

Pitch Around: Adam LaRoche

This is not a very good offensive team and Adam LaRoche is not a huge offensive threat. He could cause some problems, but I am not worried about him. This offense has only scored 209 runs, the fewest among first place teams in the majors. I am more worried about Washington's pitching.

Don't Fall Behind: All 3 starters

Are you kidding? The highest ERA among the 3 starters in this series is 2.82. Strasburg and Gonzalez have the records to back up their performances, where Zimmerman has not been as fortunate with the run support. All Washington needs to do is scored a few runs and the pitching staff will not let the Sox back in the game. Rattle the starters just a little bit and the Sox starters should have an easier time with the Nationals' offense.

How we see it goin' down

The Red Sox are coming off of a great game against the O's, but they are heading into a series with some fierce pitching. I don't feel good about this series and believe Washington has the upper hand in at least 2 games in the series. The Nationals will take the first 2 and the Sox will salvage the final game.