First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Washington -155, Tampa Bay +145, Total: 7.5

The Tampa Bay Rays look to hold on to their first place standing in the AL East when they head to Washington to take on the Nationals for two games on the road.

The Rays have been able to take over the lead in the AL East after going 10-5 to start the month of June. In that time they have allowed a mere 2.1 runs per game in the victories and they are 9-4 in their last 13 road games. After a solid Monday victory, Tampa Bay was embarrassed on Tuesday in the 16-4 loss, getting eight hits but having a mere six runners in scoring position with hits twice in those situations. OF Joey Butler (.336) has been a nice injection of production for this offense and in his last nine games has gone 13-for-35 (.371) with three doubles and six RBI. The Nationals certainly have tons of talent, but it doesn’t always translate to wins on a consistent basis as they are now just 6-9 in the month of June. They have won three of the last four, and after being defeated by the Rays in Tampa on Monday, they went off on them in game two on the road, winning 16-4 and have scored 28 runs in the last four contests. In Tuesday’s victory, Washington had 23 total hits with four leaving the park and were 7-for-17 with RISP. OF Bryce Harper (.346) had another huge game, going 3-for-3 with a homer, double and a RBI. The starting pitching matchup for this contest will put RHP Jordan Zimmerman (5-4, 3.74 ERA) of the visiting Nationals up against RHP Matt Andriese (1-1, 3.76 ERA) of the Rays. On the year, Tampa Bay has been tremendous on the road, posting a record of 18-13 as they take on this Washington group which is 16-12 on its home turf. The two games that these teams played in the past couple of days are their only recent meetings, with the Nationals tallying 31 hits in the two contests. Trends show that the Rays are 44-27 (.620) in road games after having won four or five of their last six games in the past three seasons as the Nationals are 32-6 (.842) when Zimmerman is pitching as a favorite of -150 or more in the same timeframe. Still on the DL for Tampa Bay is 2B Tim Beckham (Hamstring), 1B James Loney (Finger) and OF Desmond Jennings (Knee) while OFs Ryan Zimmerman (Foot) and Jayson Werth (Wrist) remain out for the home team.

Andriese has put in the time in the high minors and earned a spot with a major league club after starting this year with a 2.70 ERA over five games (4 starts) with Tampa Bay’s triple-A affiliate. He did not allow a homer while getting a strikeout per inning in his 20 innings over that stretch and through eight games (4 starts) with the Rays, the 25-year-old has a solid 3.76 ERA with good control (2.1 BB/9). He has struggled somewhat in the four starts, though, with a 4.41 ERA in the outings as he has a 10:5 K/BB ratio. His team is 3-1 when he starts, but he has yet to get further than 5.2 innings into a game; which he did in his last time out against the White Sox with two runs (0 ER) allowed on six hits and five strikeouts (1 walk). Andriese has not met with Washington in his very young career and as a result has not had the chance at facing any of its players, but will need to tread lightly with OF Bryce Harper (.346) who ranks in the top-three in the NL at average, home runs (22), RBI (52), runs (49), walks (54) and OPS (1.216). On the other hand, SS Ian Desmond (.227) has struck out in 28.4% of his at-bats and is 4-for-37 (.108) with 17 strikeouts in his last 10 games. The Tampa Bay bullpen has gone 12-11 with a 3.80 ERA (1.32 WHIP) and are 29-for-36 (81%) in save opportunities. Brad Boxberger (3.04 ERA, 15 saves) has 32 strikeouts in his 23.2 innings, but has allowed at least one run in four of his last eight appearances.

Zimmerman has been one of the more dominant, under-the-radar starters in the league over the past few seasons and after a rough start to the 2015 campaign, has been able to turn it around. Through his 13 starts (77 IP), the righty has seen his strikeouts drop (6.1 K/9), but has continued with his great control (2.1 BB) and has allowed a mere three homers on the year (0.35 HR/9). The craziest part about all of this is he is putting up solid numbers despite batters hitting .337 BABIP against him as a mere 68.4% of runners have been left on base. After four consecutive starts of six or more innings and two or fewer runs allowed, Zimmerman has struggled in his last two outings, going a combined 8.1 innings with 10 runs allowed on 19 hits as he took a loss each time. He has had just one start against the Rays in his career and it came back in 2009 when he earned a no-decision after going five innings and allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts (2 walks). The only player on Tampa Bay with a hit against the righty is 1B James Loney (1-for-3, 1 RBI), who is currently on the DL, while OF David DeJesus is hitless in his six career at-bats in the matchup. The Nationals relievers have gone 9-9 with a 3.71 ERA (1.29 WHIP) and have successfully saved 21-of-30 (70%) games. Drew Storen (2.16 ERA, 19 saves) is coming off a rough appearance (0.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H) on Tuesday but has a 33:4 K/BB ratio in his 25 frames this year.