Washington Nationals' lefty Gio Gonzalez tries to win his third straight start. The Nats try to win their eighth straight game in Citi Field this season and their 13th straight overall in the New York Mets' home.
With his 2 for 5 games against the Mets last night in New York's Citi Field, which featured a big 391 ft. first-inning home run, 34-year-old Washington Nationals' first baseman Adam LaRoche improved to 11 for 31 (.355/.417/.839) with five home runs in nine games so far in September.
So what is LaRoche doing right now that's leading to his recent run of success at the plate?
"I just think when he sees the ball," Williams said. "It's indicative tonight of when he is seeing the ball, he hits not the homer, but the single. And he hits it the other way. It just means he's staying back and he's waiting for the baseball. And that side of the field is pretty open for him most of the time, so when he can take advantage of that then he's very effective."
LaRoche homered in the first and drove in a run with a single to center in the third as the Nationals jumped out to a 6-0 lead in what ended up a 6-2 win.
The Nats took their 26th of the last 30 games in the Mets' home, their seventh straight in NY this season and their 12th overall in Citi Field going back to last season.
So does the winnning streak they're on in their NL East rival's park give them confidence going into tonight's game?
"Tomorrow is another game," Williams said last night. "So we just play. Don't worry about the past or streaks or anything like that, we've got a tough one tomorrow, so that's all we think about."
Gio Gonzalez takes the mound for the Nationals tonight against Mets' right-hander Dillon Gee in the second game of the four-game long-weekend set.
• Here's the Nats' lineup for tonight's game:
#Nats lineup @ #Mets: Span CF, Cabrera 2B, Rendon 3B, LaRoche 1B, Desmond SS, Harper LF, Ramos C, Schierholtz RF, Gonzalez P
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 12, 2014
Gonzalez tries to make it three straight wins after beating the Dodgers and Phillies in his last two outings.
No Jayson Werth tonight, with Nate Schierholtz starting in right.
Game Time: 7:10 PM from New York.