Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Getting to know you: Ross, Chen face familiar foe

The Nationals and Marlins will already play their fifth game against each other in this young 2016 season when they meet Wednesday night at Marlins Park. The clubs have split the first four matchups.
Right-hander Joe Ross will take the mound for the Nationals, and he has picked up right where he left off from a solid rookie campaign last season with a pair of dominant outings. Through his first two starts, Ross has yielded one run on eight hits in 14 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts.
The Marlins will start left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who has felt fine physically since taking the mound in his last start after causing some concern when he was struck on the left elbow by a comeback liner on Opening Day. He was actually pitching a gem in his last start, a no-decision against the Braves. Through six innings, he faced the minimum, but he got into trouble with one out in the seventh, and he was lifted. Chen ended up being charged with two runs.
"In the seventh inning, maybe I was trying to be too perfect and hit the corners," Chen said. "I should have done a better job in the seventh. I missed my spots there."
Things you need to know:
• With Baltimore in 2015, Chen faced the Nationals once and lost, giving up three runs (two earned) in eight innings. Ross made his season debut against the Marlins on April 10 at Nationals Park, when he held Miami to one run in seven innings.
• Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double to begin the second inning Tuesday. He has eight extra-base hits so far this season.
• Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich has reached safely in each of the 12 games he has played this season. He entered Tuesday with the best on-base percentage in the Majors at .510.

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