Bucs and Archer Host Nats and Strasburg in Game Two of Four

The Pittsburgh Pirates host game two of a four game series on Tuesday night at 7:05 pm Eastern against the Washington Nationals. The Nats pummeled the Bucs by a score of 13-0 last night, and the Pirates may not have a chance to score many more than that tonight, either. Veteran ace Stephen Strasburg (15-5, 3.82) takes the mound for Washington, and he’ll face righty Chris Archer (3-9, 5.23).

Archer had been great in his previous two starts leading up to last Wednesday’s start in Los Angeles against the Angels, recording quality starts in both outings and striking out 17 batters over 12 innings. The most recent August 14th appearance was off to a good start too, but a few two-out hits to the bottom half of the Angels order led to a rough four-run fourth inning, ruining the overall line. However, the big picture has been largely positive for Archer of late, so he’ll look to continue his solid pitching against a tough Nationals lineup.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Strasburg is having the healthiest season of his career, and he’ll be going for his career-high 16th win tonight. The former San Diego State product has had a rough August thus far after an aboslutely dominant July. Strasburg will look to get back on track after allowing 16 earned runs over his last three starts, including a nine-run beating against the Diamondbacks in Chase Field.

.

NATIONALS

1 R Trea Turner SS

2 L Adam Eaton RF

3 R Anthony Rendon 3B

4 L Juan Soto LF

5 S Asdrubal Cabrera 2B

6 L Matt Adams 1B

7 R Kurt Suzuki C

8 R Victor Robles CF

9 R Stephen Strasburg RHP

.

PIRATES

1 L Adam Frazier 2B

2 S Bryan Reynolds LF

3 R Starling Marte CF

4 S Josh Bell 1B

5 L Colin Moran 3B

6 R Jose Osuna RF

7 R Kevin Newman SS

8 R Jacob Stallings C

9 R Chris Archer RHP