The Fan Hub

There have been no hotter teams in baseball over the past two weeks than the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. And the two first-place clubs are headed for a big showdown this weekend in D.C. The Nationals head home as winners of six straight and 8 of their last 10, having swept consecutive series against the Red Sox and Blue Jays, and boast the best starting staff in the league led by Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, and Jordan Zimmerman.

Meanwhile, the Yankees have also won six straight and 9 of their last 10, and are coming off of sweeps of the Mets and Braves. And while the Nats have raced out to a 4.5 game lead in the NL East by virtue of their dominant hurlers, the Yankees are getting it done in typical Yankee fashion — by bashing the ball out of the park. The Yanks lead the Majors in home runs with 96, and are second in slugging percentage with a .455 team mark. Of course, the Nationals have allowed the second-fewest homers of any team.

That means that this series should be a classic test of the theory that good pitching beats good hitting. However, one factor that cannot be overlooked is that the games will be played in Nationals Park rather than the bandbox known as Yankee Stadium. Still, it will be true test of the Nationals staff in a series that should see perfect weather for hitting long fly balls.

The good news for Washington is that they’ll be sending Gonzalez, who has been the best in either league at keeping the ball in the yard this season, to hill in the first game on Friday night, where he’ll be facing Phil Hughes. Game 2 will feature Zimmerman against Andy Pettitte, and Jackson and Ivan Nova will pitch the finale on Sunday.