First pitch: Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Pittsburgh -120, Washington +110, Total: 7.5

The Nationals and Pirates begin a four-game set at PNC Park this Thursday night as each team looks to get back on track during their underwhelming seasons.

For the past two years now, Washington was not only expected to do exceptionally well and win its division, but is among the favorites to win the World Series. The team enters Thursday just two games over .500, but is only 1.5 games behind the Braves for the top spot in the NL East. The Nationals lost their most recent series against the Reds, two games to one, while dropping Wednesday's rubber match in a 2-1 pitchers' duel. The only run that Washington managed was OF Denard Span's homer in the game's first at-bat before Cincinnati’s starter, Alfredo Simon, shut them down. Span (.268 BA) was tremendous throughout the series, going 9-for-16 with 4 RBI and three runs. The Pirates have lost six of their past nine contests, but are coming off a high-scoring battle against the Orioles, defeating them 9-8 as they went 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position. OF Andrew McCutchen (.317 BA) has been great as the reigning NL MVP and he is 6-for-11 in his past three games with two doubles and 2 RBI. After a successful first career start, RHP Blake Treinen (0-1, 0.77 ERA) will once again toe the rubber for the Nationals. He will go up against veteran RHP Edinson Volquez (1-4, 4.71 ERA) of the Pirates. Washington has gone 10-10 in road games while Pittsburgh has been much better at home (13-12) than on the road (6-14) this season. Going back to the start of the 2012 campaign, this matchup has seen a slight edge go to Pittsburgh, as the club is 7-5 against Washington in that time while splitting six games at home. 3-3

Blake Treinen will be making his second career MLB start on Thursday night as he went five innings in his first start on May 6, allowing seven hits and no earned runs (3 R) while striking out two with zero walks in a losing effort. He was dominant in Triple-A this season and over six starts he went 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, but although he had a pedestrian 6.5 K/9 rate, his 2.0 BB/9 rate was strong. The 25-year-old allowed just two free passes in 11.2 frames at the major league level. He has yet to face the Pirates and will obviously need to be careful against OF Andrew McCutchen, but will also need to keep an eye out for 1B Ike Davis, who is 4-for-8 in his past two games with a homer and 3 RBI. On the other hand, 3B Pedro Alvarez is just 4-for-19 in his past five games and has not hit a home run since May 5. The Nationals’ bullpen has combined to go 11-7 with an amazing 2.13 ERA and 1.18 WHIP this year while saving 10-of-14 (71%) of their games. Rafael Soriano (0.95 ERA, 10 saves) has blown just one save so far this season and has yet to allow a home run in 19 innings on the mound.

It looked like Edinson Volquez was going to have a bounce-back season after giving up just six runs over his first five outings (28 IP), but has since gone 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA over his past four starts. He gave up four home runs in his last start on Saturday, finishing after 6.1 frames against the Yankees as he allowed six hits and five runs while striking out three with no walks. Volquez's strikeout rate has dropped dramatically this season to 5.1 K/9 from his career 8.2 K/9, but he has harnessed his control, allowing just 2.4 walks per nine innings on the year, which is well below his career rate of 4.6 BB/9. Volquez has started four times against the Nationals with very poor results, going 1-2 with a 6.64 ERA and 1.48 WHIP, but has struck out 9.3 batters per nine innings over 20.1 frames. OF Nate McLouth has been great against Volquez in his career, going 5-for-12 with two doubles. On the other hand, SS Ian Desmond, 2B Danny Espinosa, and OF Jayson Werth have combined to go just 1-for-11 with three strikeouts in this matchup. Pittsburgh’s relievers have been nearly as good as the Nationals, going 14-6 with a 2.94 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, but have saved just 11-of-22 games. Mark Melancon (2.14 ERA, 7 saves) has been solid as the closer, going 7-for-9 in his save opportunities, while walking just three batters and not allowing a home run in 21 frames.