extended his streak of reaching base safely to 41 games. I

WASHINGTON -- Two pitchers with very different ERAs will face each other Saturday in the second game of a series between first-place teams at Nationals Park.Giants right-hander Matt Cain (3-6, 5.53) will face Washington right-hander Stephen Strasburg (15-1, 2.63) in the second game of the series.Cain will try to pick up the slack after Giants starter Jeff Samardzija gave up five runs in a 5-1 loss on Friday night. The Giants have now gone 5-14 since the All-Star break and their lead is slipping in the National League West.We have to start winning ballgames. This is a big series, said Bruce Bochy, the Giants manager.Cain got the 100th victory of his career but had to leave after five hitless innings due to a high pitch count last weekend against the Nationals. The Giants got the win 3-1 over Gio Gonzalez, who has also been known to reach 100 pitches in five innings at times.Strasburg was named the Pitcher of the Month for July in the National League and entered Friday as the league leader in winning percentage (.938) and wins and was fourth in strikeouts with 161 and fourth in opponents batting average at .194.In three games at home against the Giants in his career, Strasburg has been given 5.93 runs per game by his teammates.Hunter Pence is hitting .260 (4-for-16) against Strasburg while Buster Posey is hitting .375 in 16 trips to the plate while first baseman Brandon Belt, who did not start Friday against lefty Gonzalez, is 1-for-7 against Strasburg.Eduardo Nunez, just acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a trade, is 3-for-4 in his career against Strasburg.A few of the Nationals hitters have interesting -- albeit limited -- track records against Cain.Daniel Murphy, the July player of the month in the National League, is hitting .167 against him but has two homers in 12 at-bats.Danny Espinosa, the Washington shortstop, has two homers in eight at-bats for an average of .250.Clint Robinson, a backup first baseman for the Nationals, is two-for-two in his career against Cain.The slumping Bryce Harper is hitting .167 in seven at-bats against Cain. Harper has hit the ball hard the past few games but has little to show for it.He was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly on Friday.He hit the ball hard, said Washington manager Dusty Baker after Fridays win. Good times are around the corner.Gonzalez pitched for the Oakland As through the 2011 season so he is no stranger to the Giants.The lefty, who won 21 games with Washington in 2012, has had amazing success against right-handed hitting Hunter Pence -- who is hitting .059 in 17 at-bats against Gonzalez.Buster Posey is hitting .333 in 15 at-bats against the Miami-area native while Angel Pagan has an average of .364 in 11 trips to the plate.Brandon Crawford is hitting .273 in 11 at-bats against Gonzalez.We have to find a way to get this offense going, Bochy said Friday. We have to bust out of this. It better be sooner than later. We have our work cut out tomorrow (against Strasburg). Cooper Kupp Womens Jersey . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Deacon Jones Youth Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. http://www.laramsfootballshops.com/greg-gaines-jersey/ . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Gerald Everett Rams Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Orlando Pace Jersey . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. WASHINGTON -- A matchup with National League wins leader Stephen Strasburg didnt slow down the Atlanta Braves offense Friday night.Jace Peterson, Freddie Freeman and Anthony Recker all homered as Atlanta defeated the Nationals 8-5, snapping a 14-game losing streak in Washington.Its been a couple of years since Ive been part of a win here, Freeman said. Its nice to get off the schneid.Mike Foltynewicz (6-5) allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings, while Jim Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save in 13 tries. Atlanta won for the 11th time in 17 games and improved to 5-3 on its road trip.Thats kind of the way weve been playing, Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. Weve faced some pretty good pitching over the course of the summer and the guys are never down, theyre never out. Theyve been beat over the head for the majority of the season but they come and prepare. They grind out at-bats and leave it out on the field. The record is no indication of how I feel this team is.Strasburg (15-3) struggled at home again, surrendering six runs in 5 1/3 innings. He has a 9.00 ERA over 16 innings in his last three outings (all losses) at Nationals Park.This happens no matter who you are, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. These things happen. He is not infallible. Hes human and sometimes you hit a bad period of time like this.Atlanta had not won in Washington since Sept. 10, 2014, and was 0-6 against the NL East leaders this season. But all of this years previous meetings came during the Braves 0-9 start.The Braves scored in the first and second innings before the Nationals rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth with the help of Anthony Rendons 14th home run of the season.That wasnt a concern for Foltynewicz, whose teammates scored six runs in the next three innings.This offense, and I at least know it, they can do some special things, Foltynewicz said. I didnt have a worry in the world after I gave up that home run.He played a part with his bat on a humid night, doubling to lead off the fifth. After Erick Aybar singled with one out, Freeman smacked his 22nd home run to give the Braves thee lead for good.ddddddddddddHes a really good hitter so its kind of been a back and forth for years now and I just got to do a better job of hitting my spots with him, Strasburg said. Didnt do that tonight and he beat me on it.Strasburg left trailing 5-3 with a man on base in the sixth, and Recker hit reliever Matt Belisles first pitch deep to left for his first homer this season.BRAVES ON THE MENDSeveral Braves begin rehabilitation assignments this weekend. RHP Arodys Vizcaino, on the DL with a right oblique strain, will pitch Saturday for Atlantas Rookie League Gulf Coast affiliate. Tyler Flowers (fractured left hand) is scheduled to catch seven innings at Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday. RHP Julio Teheran (right lat strain) is due to pitch five innings at Gwinnett on Sunday.WERTH EXTENDS ON-BASE STREAKNationals LF Jayson Werths RBI double in the seventh inning extended his streak of reaching base safely to 41 games. It is the longest streak in the majors and two shy of Ryan Zimmermans Nationals record set in 2009.TRAINERS ROOMBraves: Atlanta selected the contract of RHP Jason Hursh from Triple-A Gwinnett, recalled RHP Akeel Morris from Double-A Mississippi, optioned RHP Brandon Cunniff to Gwinnett and designated RHP Roberto Hernandez for assignment. Cunniff was 1-0 with a 7.36 ERA in three games, while the veteran Hernandez was 1-1 with an 8.00 ERA in two starts this month.Nationals: OF Bryce Harper, who has not played since Saturday, remained out of the lineup with a stiff neck. Baker said the team might have to make a decision about placing Harper on the DL in the next few days, but has not discussed the possibility based on his progress. Brian Goodwin started in right in Harpers place.UP NEXTBraves: Rookie RHP Rob Whalen (1-0, 5.73 ERA) makes his third career start and first against Washington.Nationals: The club plans to recall RHP Reynaldo Lopez (0-1, 9.35) to start Saturday. Lopez did not last more than 4 2/3 innings in either of his first two career starts. ' ' '