Stroman expected to start as New York hosts Washington

Updated Aug. 28, 2021 4:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Washington Nationals (55-72, fourth in the NL East) vs. New York Mets (61-67, third in the NL East)

Flushing, Queens; Saturday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Sean Nolin (0-2, 9.00 ERA, 2.43 WHIP, 7 strikeouts) Mets: Marcus Stroman (9-12, 2.85 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 129 strikeouts)

LINE: Mets -218, Nationals +181; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Juan Soto and the Nationals will take on the Mets Saturday.

The Mets are 36-27 on their home turf. The New York pitching staff averages 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings, Taijuan Walker leads them with a mark of 8.1.

The Nationals are 24-39 on the road. Washington is slugging .416 as a unit. Juan Soto leads the team with a slugging percentage of .504.

The Nationals won the last meeting 2-1. Paolo Espino earned his fourth victory and Josh Bell went 1-for-4 with an RBI for Washington. Rich Hill registered his sixth loss for New York.

TOP PERFORMERS: Pete Alonso leads the Mets with 75 RBIs and is batting .258.

Soto leads the Nationals with 21 home runs and is slugging .504.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 2-8, .221 batting average, 3.24 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Nationals: 5-5, .277 batting average, 4.33 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

INJURIES: Mets: Jordan Yamamoto: (shoulder), Noah Syndergaard: (elbow), Tomas Nido: (thumb), Luis Guillorme: (hamstring), Jose Martinez: (knee), Jose Peraza: (finger), Dellin Betances: (shoulder), Jacob deGrom: (forearm), Robert Gsellman: (lat), Joey Lucchesi: (elbow), Stephen Nogosek: (shoulder), Corey Oswalt: (knee), David Peterson: (side), Jake Reed: (forearm), Sean Reid-Foley: (elbow), Drew Smith: (shoulder), Robert Stock: (hamstring), James McCann: (back).

Nationals: Stephen Strasburg: (neck), Joe Ross: (forearm), 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.