WASHINGTON — The two hottest teams in the NL East face off this weekend as the Phillies, winners of seven of nine, look to stay hot against the Nationals, who've shot to the top of the division standings by winning 11 of 13.
The series figures to be anything but easy, with the Nats sending out Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez to pitch, and with Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman so locked in.
Harper is the early-season favorite for NL MVP. He enters the weekend hitting .333, and he leads the league with a .472 on-base percentage, a .732 slugging percentage, 15 home runs, 37 runs scored and 37 walks. His 38 RBIs are second only to Giancarlo Stanton.
The Phillies have never faced Harper when he's been going this well. In seven games against them earlier this season, he went 5 for 21 with three homers and nine walks.
"He's a guy that gets your attention no matter what, him and Zimmerman back to back," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said Friday afternoon. "You have to have a purpose with every pitch, be down in the zone and minimize. Make him hit the ball on the ground, and focus on every pitch."
The notoriously streaky Zimmerman is getting that front leg down right now, the key to his approach at the plate. Guys who lift their front leg up high as a timing/loading mechanism struggle when the timing is off. But when it's on, look out.
Zimmerman is a .310 hitter over his last 12 games with two doubles, three homers, 14 RBIs and eight runs. No surprise the Nats have won 10 of those games.
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Meanwhile, Scherzer, Friday's mound opponent, has been worth the money through the season's first two months. He's 4-3 with a 1.75 ERA in eight starts, with 66 strikeouts and just eight walks in 56 2/3 innings.
This is his third start already against the Phillies in 2015, and coincidentally, all three have been against Sean O'Sullivan.
The Phils didn't do much vs. Scherzer on April 12 or April 17, managing just two runs against him in 14 innings. They struck out 17 times, and 141 of the 202 pitches he threw were strikes. Talk about being aggressive — that's a 70 percent strike rate for Scherzer against the Phils.
"Possibly," Sandberg said when asked if the previous games would give the Phils some more comfort against one of the league's best pitchers.
"Scherzer can be aggressive with his fastball and he changes speed on his fastball, 91 to 96-97 (mph). Against a good pitcher, you've got to be ready to hit. Get your pitch, try and make something with that pitch. Get him in the stretch a little bit, put some pressure on him.
"And just be aggressive early in the game, I think early runs would go a long way not only with attacking him, but also helping our starting pitcher pitch with some run support."