Nats' Ross, Bay Area native, looks to finish sweep of Giants

The Washington Nationals go for a series sweep over the host San Francisco Giants on homecoming day for pitcher Joe Ross in the finale of a three-game set between postseason hopefuls on Wednesday afternoon.

The Nationals have received brilliant starts from Erick Fedde and Anibal Sanchez in the first two games of the series, helping Washington (60-53) move two more games ahead of San Francisco (56-58) in the National League wild-card chase.

Ross (1-3, 8.10 ERA), who was born in the Oakland suburb of Berkeley, will be making just the second start of his professional career in San Francisco. He lost the first one 5-0 as a rookie in August 2015, allowing four runs in four innings.

Ross has made just two starts this season, but the last one was a success, shutting out the Arizona Diamondbacks on one hit over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-0 win on Friday. He had gone into that game winless with a 9.85 ERA in 19 appearances this year.

Asdrubal Cabrera made his Nationals season debut in the Tuesday win, grounding into a double play as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. Cabrera previously played 49 games for Washington in 2014.

Before the game, Washington manager Dave Martinez seemed to be counting the minutes before he could use his new weapon in game action.

"Gives us another bat," Martinez told reporters about the 33-year-old veteran who was dumped by the Texas Rangers last week. "Switch hitter, power, hits the ball all over. Great addition for us. I'm excited that he's here. I told him just be ready, you can play everywhere, come in, double-switch and help us in many ways."

While the Nationals were adding infield depth, the Giants were losing some of theirs with the decision Tuesday to designate veteran second baseman Joe Panik for assignment.

The six-year Giant, a former All-Star and Gold Glove winner, became expendable when the club acquired Scooter Gennett in a deal with the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline.

"It's one of my more difficult conversations I've had in my career," Giants manager Bruce Bochy admitted before Tuesday's game. "It's always tough when you see one of your guys go. Joe was drafted by the Giants. He's a Giant. He's done so many good things for us, helped us win championships here. I think he's ready to look for a new opportunity and a chance to restart his career."

Gennett went 1-for-3 with a double Tuesday, making him 4-for-17 (.235) for the Giants. Coincidentally, Panik was hitting .235 in 103 games this season.

The Giants will send right-hander Shaun Anderson (3-3, 5.08 ERA) in search of his first win since June in the series finale.

The rookie, who has never faced the Nationals, has gone 0-1 with a 7.31 ERA in his past six starts.

The Giants wasted a two-double effort off the bench from Pablo Sandoval in Tuesday's loss.

Sandoval entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. The first of his doubles gave him a majors-best eight as a pinch hitter this season.

He remained in the game to play third base, then doubled again in the seventh inning, raising his average as a reserve this season to .355.

--Field Level Media