Lauer expected to start for Milwaukee against Washington

Updated Aug. 21, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Washington Nationals (53-68, fourth in the NL East) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (74-49, first in the NL Central)

Milwaukee; Saturday, 4:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Paolo Espino (3-4, 4.16 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 52 strikeouts) Brewers: Eric Lauer (4-4, 3.19 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 73 strikeouts)

LINE: Brewers -219, Nationals +182; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Milwaukee and Washington will face off on Saturday.

The Brewers are 32-28 on their home turf. Milwaukee is averaging 4.4 RBIs per game this season. Avisail Garcia leads the team with 73 total runs batted in.

The Nationals have gone 22-35 away from home. Washington is hitting a collective .258 this season, led by Juan Soto with an average of .304.

The Nationals won the last meeting 4-1. Patrick Corbin earned his seventh victory and Lane Thomas went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs for Washington. Brett Anderson registered his seventh loss for Milwaukee.

TOP PERFORMERS: Garcia leads the Brewers with 24 home runs and is slugging .503.

Josh Bell leads the Nationals with 37 extra base hits and is slugging .458.

LAST 10 GAMES: Brewers: 7-3, .295 batting average, 3.80 ERA, outscored opponents by 20 runs

Nationals: 3-7, .273 batting average, 5.90 ERA, outscored by seven runs

INJURIES: Brewers: Angel Perdomo: (back), Freddy Peralta: (shoulder), Adrian Houser: (health protocols), Jandel Gustave: (covid-19), John Curtiss: (elbow), John Axford: (elbow), Tyrone Taylor: (oblique), Daniel Vogelbach: (hamstring), Mark Mathias: (shoulder).

Nationals: Austin Voth: (covid-19), Stephen Strasburg: (neck), Joe Ross: (forearm), Kyle McGowin: (bicep), Will Harris: (hand), Steven Fuentes: (shoulder), Luis Avilan: (elbow), Jordy Mercer: (calf), Alex Avila: (calf).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.