Yankees visit the Nationals to open 3-game series

New York Yankees (51-42, second in the AL East) vs. Washington Nationals (48-46, fourth in the NL East)

Washington; Friday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Yankees: Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.29 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 104 strikeouts); Nationals: Carson Palmquist (0-1, 7.11 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, seven strikeouts)

LINE: Yankees -166, Nationals +136; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals host the New York Yankees on Friday to start a three-game series.

Washington has a 48-46 record overall and a 20-28 record at home. Nationals hitters have a collective .435 slugging percentage to rank second in the NL.

New York is 51-42 overall and 28-22 on the road. The Yankees have gone 25-15 in games when they did not allow a home run.

Friday's game is the first time these teams meet this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Luis Garcia has a .291 batting average to lead the Nationals, and has 16 doubles, three triples and 20 home runs. Curtis Mead is 13 for 40 with a home run and three RBI over the last 10 games.

Ben Rice has 15 doubles, two triples, 28 home runs and 65 RBI for the Yankees. Jose Caballero is 7 for 34 with two home runs and six RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 6-4, .292 batting average, 5.26 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs

Yankees: 3-7, .203 batting average, 4.10 ERA, outscored by 16 runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brad Lord: 15-Day IL (side), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Irvin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mitchell Parker: 60-Day IL (elbow), Richard Lovelady: 15-Day IL (tricep), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Yankees: Max Fried: 15-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Rodon: 15-Day IL (elbow), Giancarlo Stanton: 10-Day IL (leg), Aaron Judge: 10-Day IL (rib), Clarke Schmidt: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.