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Washington Nationals left fielder Alfonso Soriano will try again to become the fourth player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season in Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at RFK Stadium. Soriano has 45 homers and 39 stolen bases - none in his last four games.In the first of six straight home games Friday, Soriano went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, although he did draw a walk and score in the first inning of Washington's 5-2 defeat. He's trying to join Jose Canseco (42 homers, 40 steals in 1988), Barry Bonds (42 homers, 40 steals in 1996) and Alex Rodriguez (42 homers, 46 steals in 1998) as the only players to achieve 40-40 seasons. ''My teammates, my friends, my family ... everybody's waiting to see me get to 40 stolen bases,'' Soriano said. ''Sooner or later, I know it's going to come.'' The Brewers (67-80) snapped a three-game losing streak to Washington and look to win three in a row overall for the first time since sweeping the Colorado Rockies from Aug. 22-24. Carlos Villanueva pitched six innings of one-run ball to earn his first major league win Friday in relief of starter Tomo Ohka , who left the game with a hamstring injury in the third inning. ''This time of year you're going to see a lot of people that you have not seen before,'' said Nationals manager Frank Robinson , whose team had never faced Villanueva. ''He may be a little bit more effective against you because you haven't seen him, you don't know exactly when he throws certain pitches in certain counts, but he shouldn't shut you down for eight innings, seven innings, whatever.'' The Nationals (63-84) will see a pitcher they're only slightly more familiar with when Brewers right-hander Dave Bush (11-10, 4.44 ERA) takes the mound Saturday looking to win his third consecutive start. Bush lost his only prior start against the Nationals franchise, a 2-0 loss to the Montreal Expos on July 2, 2004, despite allowing just one run and four hits in 5 1-3 innings. Bush pitched a complete-game, five-hitter and had a season-high 10 strikeouts in Sunday's 4-0 victory over the Houston Astros . ''It just seems like each start he's getting better and better,'' Brewers center fielder Brady Clark said. ''The confidence has built up. He's confident in his stuff, and he's confident in his ability to locate his pitches.'' The Nationals counter with right-hander Pedro Astacio (3-5, 6.38], who looks to avoid his fourth straight loss. He is 0-3 with an 11.37 ERA in his last five starts. Astacio failed to record a decision Sunday against the Rockies, when he allowed six runs and five hits in 2 1-3 innings.He's 5-2 with a 4.16 career ERA against the Brewers.
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Topic: Gameday Thread: Nationals vs Brewers, Game 2 (Curly W) (Read 28132 times)
