First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York -110, Washington +100, Total: 9.0

The Nationals will be hoping to continue to bury the second place Mets with a win in D.C. on Wednesday.

New York is currently sitting at 38-45, and the team is now 11.5 games back in the NL East standings. The Mets were supposed to be the team that was capable of giving the Nationals some trouble in the division, but they would need a miraculous second half of the season in order to even put themselves in contention to pass the Nationals. Washington, however, does not seem likely to collapse, as the team continues to win games. The Nats enter this one on a three-game winning streak, and they are likely going to finish the season with one of the best records in the National League. The starters in this Wednesday night matchup are going to be RHP Jacob deGrom (8-3, 3.55 ERA, 125 K) for the Mets and RHP Tanner Roark (6-6, 5.27 ERA, 78 K) for the Nationals. Although the season has been pretty disappointing for New York, deGrom has been a bright spot for the team. He might no longer be a guy that finishes with an ERA of 3.00 or better, but he can still shut down his opponents on any given night. Roark, meanwhile, has struggled for Washington and really needs to get himself going soon. One trend that favors New York in this game is the fact that the team is 13-5 against the money line in road games against teams with bullpens that have an ERA of 4.20 or worse this season. The Mets are, however, a lousy 8-22 against the money line versus teams outscoring opponents by 0.5 or more runs per game this season. And they could also be without OF Yoenis Cespedes (Hamstring), who is listed as questionable for this one. That is in addition to the absence of OF Michael Conforto (Hand), who is on the 10-day DL right now.

Jacob deGrom will be on the mound on Wednesday, and that is good news for a struggling Mets team. The righty has been unhittable as of late, as he has allowed one or fewer earned runs in four straight games for New York. One of those starts came against this same Nationals team, as deGrom allowed no earned runs in eight innings of work against Washington on Jun. 18. He struck out six batters in that game and walked just two. He’d certainly be more than satisfied with an outing just like that one on Wednesday. Offensively, OF Jay Bruce (.256 BA, 21 HR, 57 RBI) is a guy that will need to step it up for the Mets in this one. With so many injuries striking this lineup, Bruce is the most reliable hitter that the team has right now. He had a homer and two RBI against Washington on Tuesday, and he’ll be hoping that he got himself going with that one. Bruce had gone four straight games without a hit before hitting that bomb, so he definitely needed something to boost his confidence. Another guy to keep an eye on for the Mets is OF Curtis Granderson (.236 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI). Granderson is currently dealing with a bad hip, but he has been able to bat in each of the past two games for the Mets. They’ll do everything they can to get him back out there at some point on Wednesday as well.

The Nationals are rolling right now, as they are entering this game on a three-game winning streak. They do, however, have Tanner Roark on the mound in this game. Roark has been absolutely awful for Washington this season. He most recently allowed three earned runs in only three innings of work against the Cardinals on Jun. 30. Roark threw 85 pitches in those three innings, and it’s really important that he starts to be more efficient. The Nationals are going to need him at his best in the near future, and it’s actually hard to imagine them tolerating his recent form much longer. Offensively, Washington has the bats to cover for Roark. One guy that will be happy to help is 2B Daniel Murphy (.341 BA, 14 HR, 60 RBI). Murphy loves playing against his former team, and his 4-for-5 game on Tuesday is evidence of that. Murphy drove in five runs in that game, and he should be able to come through once again on Wednesday. OF Bryce Harper (.324 BA, 20 HR, 64 RBI) is also capable of helping the Nationals here. Harper has been red-hot lately, as he has driven his average up from .313 to .324 since Jun. 30. Since then, Harper has homered twice and driven in six RBI. His confidence is through the roof.