Eleven extra innings and four loses. That’s the best way to describe the Phillies/Mets series from this past weekend. The Phils’ went 4-7 in their most recent homestand, and now the team hits the road.

Philadelphia Phillies (24-31) @ Washington Nationals (27-28)

Probables:
Tuesday at 7:05 ET: David Buchanan (1-1) vs. Jordan Zimmerman (3-2)
Wednesday at 7:05 ET: A.J. Burnett (3-4) vs. Stephen Strasburg (4-4)
Thursday at 4:05 ET: Kyle Kendrick (1-5) vs. Doug Fister (3-1)

This is the second series–the first in Washington–between these two NL East foes; the Phillies won the previous series two games to one about a month ago. The Phillies are 12-12 on the road while the Nationals are 16-15 at Nationals Park and both teams haven’t faired very well over their last ten games.

The Phillies had a very tough time hitting against the Mets’ starting pitchers over the past weekend. Even when they were able to, their starter was having a tough time against the Mets’ batters. One the struggling starters was David Buchanan, who takes the mound tonight against Jordan Zimmerman. You can’t hold too much against Buchanan for the poor outing against the Mets, as that was his second career start after winning his first start. In those two starts, Buchanan is 1-1 having pitched 11.2 innings, letting up 12 hits and five runs while striking out four batters.

After starting off the season with a 2.92 ERA in his first seven starts, Jordan Zimmerman has posted a 5.96 ERA in his last four starts. However, he went 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA last year agains the Phillies. Stephen Strasburg posted six shutout innings in his last start while striking out nine for his fourth win of the season. Doug Fister has won his last three starts, allowing five runs over 18.1 innings.

Ryan Zimmerman is expected to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday night; he has been on the DL since fracturing his thumb ten games into the season. Zimmerman is expected to be playing left field, where he has never played, because his replacement Anthony Rendon is bating .263 with 27 RBIs.

The Phillies will be looking for Chase Utley to break out the slump he fell into against the Mets. Utley went 3 for 19 against the Mets and is batting .125 in his last nine game against the Nats.

Injury Note: RHP Mike Adams is day-to-day as his shoulder is still bothering him.