| SEASON | CAREER |
| W8 | 20 |
| L12 | 21 |
| G26 | 154 |
| IP158.2 | 328.0 |
| BB54 | 154 |
| SO163 | 305 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W8 | 14 |
| L6 | 20 |
| G27 | 66 |
| IP133.0 | 305.0 |
| BB36 | 103 |
| SO83 | 185 |
The Chicago Cubs know they are hardly catching a break even though they don't have to face Stephen Strasburg in this four-game set against the Washington Nationals .
The Nationals will showcase the rest of their rotation in a home series that starts Monday, with their next win clinching the franchise's first winning season since 2003.
Strasburg pitched six scoreless innings for Washington (81-52) in Sunday's 4-3 win over St. Louis. His effort helped the Nationals lower their starters' ERA to 3.28, the best mark in baseball.
"We're going to see the best team in baseball the next four days," manager Dale Sveum told the Cubs' official website. "Even though we miss Strasburg, we're still going to see four quality starters and a heck of a lineup that they can throw at you."
Washington owns baseball's second-best record and will also likely have two members of its lineup back after Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche did not start Sunday.
Werth was held out after leaving Saturday's loss to the Cardinals with leg cramps. LaRoche, who flied out as a pinch-hitter, did not start due to a sore back.
"I'll probably have to wrestle them to keep them out of the lineup (Monday)," manager Davey Johnson told the Nationals' official website.
The Washington franchise last posted a winning record when the Montreal Expos won 83 games nine years ago. The Nationals have won 11 of 15 at home.
Ross Detwiler (8-6, 3.32 ERA) will start the opener for the Nationals. He's 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in five home starts since the All-Star break.
Detwiler yielded three runs over 5 2-3 innings Wednesday to earn an 8-4 victory at Miami. He went 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in his two career starts against the Cubs last year.
Chicago (51-82) is starting a 10-game trip and has lost 13 of 14 on the road.
The Cubs fell to 4-6 halfway through a stretch in which they play 20 straight days with Sunday's 7-5 defeat to San Francisco.
Sveum says that he wants to give regulars Alfonso Soriano , Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo some rest, but not necessarily when facing a contender.
"You have to pick those days and figure out who needs them mentally or physically," the manager said. "It's a little bit of a crap shoot sometimes."
Washington took two of three in Chicago to open the season. The Cubs avoided the sweep when Jeff Samardzija (8-12, 4.03) pitched them to a 4-3 victory in the finale April 8 as he struck out eight and came within an out of a complete game in his lone career start against the Nationals.
Samardzija has pitched at least seven innings in four of his last five starts entering this one. He lasted that many frames and gave up three runs Wednesday in a 3-1 home loss to Milwaukee.
He'll get his first look at Bryce Harper , who wasn't with Washington on opening day. Harper went 0 for 4 on Sunday after the rookie All-Star posted four straight multihit efforts for the first time, homering three times with eight RBIs during that surge.
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AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPSERAQSSOBBSVBSBAAWHIPE
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Jeff Baker | 5 | .200 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .400 | .200 |
| Darwin Barney | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Starlin Castro | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Blake DeWitt | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Reed Johnson | 6 | .667 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .667 | 2.000 | 1.333 |
| Rodrigo Lopez | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .750 | .500 |
| Geovany Soto | 4 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .600 | 1.850 | 1.250 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Rick Ankiel | 4 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.250 | .750 |
| Roger Bernadina | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Mark DeRosa | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Ian Desmond | 7 | .429 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .429 | 1.143 | .714 |
| Danny Espinosa | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jesus Flores | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.500 | 1.000 |
| Adam LaRoche | 5 | .200 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .200 | 1.000 | .800 |
| Xavier Nady | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Wilson Ramos | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Chad Tracy | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jayson Werth | 9 | .222 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .300 | .856 | .556 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 8 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
 Chicago Cubs |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| July 28, 2012 | Matt Garza | 60-Day DL | Stress reaction, right elbow |
| July 21, 2012 | Matt Garza | Day-to-Day | Left game - right triceps cramp |
| June 16, 2012 | Ryan Dempster | 15-Day DL | Right lat tightness |
| June 13, 2012 | Ian Stewart | 60-Day DL | Left wrist surgery |
| June 02, 2012 | Blake Parker | 60-Day DL | Stress reaction in right elbow |
| June 02, 2012 | Blake Parker | 60-Day DL | Stress reaction in right elbow |
 Washington Nationals |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 02, 2012 | Jayson Werth | Day-to-Day | Sore hamstring |
| August 24, 2012 | Ian Desmond | Day-to-Day | Strained right hamstring |
| August 24, 2012 | Michael Morse | Day-to-Day | Left game - right hand contusion |
| August 13, 2012 | Jayson Werth | Day-to-Day | Sore right ankle |
| August 05, 2012 | Mark DeRosa | 15-Day DL | Left abdominal strain |
| August 05, 2012 | Mark DeRosa | 15-Day DL | Left abdominal strain |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The first winning season in franchise history didn't thrill Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson when he was reminded of it.
"I guess," Johnson said and paused. "I wasn't real concerned about it."
The Nationals, who moved to Washington for the 2005 season, had never won more than 81 games. After their 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday, they have their 82nd victory, a 6 1/2-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East and the best record in the majors.
"We haven't really done anything yet and we're looking for bigger things," Ryan Zimmerman said. "It not being a major story shows how far we've come."
Ross Detwiler allowed four hits in seven shutout innings and Adam LaRoche hit a second-inning homer for Washington. Detwiler (9-6) struck out three and walked three, allowing only one runner to get past second base.
"Today he was real special. He mixed in some breaking balls. Even the ones that were bad were pretty good," Johnson said.
Chicago right-hander Jeff Samardzija gave up a long home run to LaRoche to lead off the second. LaRoche's 25th home run landed in the front row of the second deck. It's the fourth time in his career LaRoche has hit 25 or more home runs.
Zimmerman's RBI double scored Bryce Harper in the eighth for the second run.
Drew Storen pitched a perfect eighth.
Tyler Clippard allowed two hits and a two-out RBI single to Welington Castillo in the ninth. Clippard threw the ball away for an error and allowed pinch-runner Tony Campana to reach second before striking out Josh Vitters for his 30th save in 33 opportunities.
Samardzija (8-13) allowed seven hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out eight.
"You love playing against these kind of teams. When you're a team in our situation, anytime you can play these first or second-place teams where they're still playing for something, it means a lot, and they're fun games," Samardzija said.
Chicago, whose loss on Sunday guaranteed a third straight losing season, has dropped three straight. The Cubs have a 12-23 record in one-run games.
"It's amazing how you can be in so many games and never win them," manager Dale Sveum said. "That's a sign of a team that needs to get a long way before you start winning those games."
The Nationals went 81-81 in their first season in D.C., lost a combined 205 games in 2008-09, and finished 80-81 in 2011.
"We've come a long way. You can't start an organization from the ground up and expect that to happen real quickly," Zimmerman said. "Now, we're going to be set not just for this year, but for a lot of years to come. We have a long ways to go. It can get a lot better. You have to learn how to win and you have to learn how to do a lot of things right at this level to win."
Their 82nd win puts them 30 games over .500.
Detwiler recited the team's upcoming schedule, which includes three games against the second-place Braves in Atlanta Sept. 14-16.
"We know if we win the games there's no way we're out of it," Detwiler said.
NOTES: Johnson, GM Mike Rizzo and pitching coach Steve McCatty met with RHP Stephen Strasburg to explain the reasons the team is ending his season after two more starts. "I'm not sure any of us understand, but it's the right thing to do," Johnson said. ... Washington OF Michael Morse left the game in the fourth inning with a sore right thumb. "I knew their pitcher was going to pound him in. He didn't want to come out," Johnson said. Johnson expects him to play on Tuesday. ... Nationals LHP Sean Burnett will probably miss a few days with a sore right elbow, Johnson said. ... Washington purchased the contracts of RHP Christian Garcia and LHP Zach Duke from Triple-A Syracuse. RHP Henry Rodriguez was moved to the 60-day disabled list. ... U.S. Olympic swimming gold medalist Katie Ledecky threw out the first pitch. ... Nationals RHP Edwin Jackson (8-9, 3.53) and LHP Chris Rusin (0-1, 1.80) are Tuesday's pitchers. Rusin and three others, RHPs Jaye Chapman and Rafael Dolis and C Anthony Recker , will be added to Chicago's roster on Tuesday.
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Chicago Cubs