Nationals Preview

Male Bag: Volume V is just below this post. Enjoy!

Game 1: Roy Oswalt (5-7, 3.84 ERA) vs. Livan Hernandez (7-11, 4.21 ERA)
My brother-in-law Jeremiah was just saying how annoying of a pitcher Livan Hernandez is. It's pretty true. Every time we play against him, I have no idea what to expect really. By the numbers, we should kill him; however, somehow it seems like he always pitches well against us. Oswalt does not have great numbers against the Nationals, specifically Laynce Nix. Perhaps because he's so confused over the spelling of this guy's first name, Oswalt has allowed Nix to go 11 for 23 against him with 3 home runs. He, Michael Morse, and Ryan Zimmerman are all dangerous to Oswalt, so this game is not exactly in the bag. Roy is 1-1 against the Nats this year with a 3.75 ERA. Hernandez is 1-1 against the Phils with a 3.12 ERA. I don't expect either pitcher to dominate, but I don't expect them to get hit around too much either.
Prediction: Phillies 5 Nationals 3
Keep an eye out for: Chase Utley. You know who's never hit a home run off of Hernandez? Chase Utley. You know when that should change? Tonight.

Game 2: Kyle Kendrick (7-5, 3.25 ERA) vs. John Lannan (8-8, 3.55 ERA)
Lannan, who has always struggled against the Phillies, continued that last weekend by giving up 7 runs in just 3 innings. Utley is a .400 career hitter against him but has struggled mightily against the Nats this season (.158 average, no extra-base hits). Kendrick will have to fight through more of my tough love for this game, because I don't want to jinx him and say that he'll do really well in this game. He has been all we could ask for and more as a 5th starter and spot-starter this season, but I still can't say that I trust him to pitch really well in this game. Ryan Zimmerman is 9 for 19 in his career against Kendrick with 6 doubles and a home run.
Prediction: Phillies 9 Nationals 6
Keep an eye out for: Wheeler and McCarthy drooling over Ibanez's numbers at Nationals Park. Then, Suckhole will go 0-for-4

Game 3: Roy Halladay (15-5, 2.53 ERA) vs. Chien-Ming Wang (2-2, 4.22 ERA)
I previewed this game last weekend only for it to not happen, so I don't have much new to say. Halladay, though, is 3-0 against the Nationals this season in 3 starts, and 11-1 in his career against them. It's hard to envision them getting to him, and, even if they can, a bad start for Halladay consists of 3 or 4 runs, and we can definitely score that many against Wang. Oh, by the way, their pitcher's last name is Wang.
Prediction: Phillies 5 Nationals 1
Keep an eye out for: back-to-back Howard and Pence home runs along with double-digit strikeouts from Halladay.