Giants-Nationals preview

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 Friday's win. "Good times are around the corner."

Gonzalez pitched for the Oakland A's 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)."