Washington right-hander Jordan Zimmermann can add to his already career-best win total on Tuesday night when the Nationals visit Citi Field for game two of a four-game series with the New York Mets.
Zimmermann had a 12-win season in 2012 over 32 starts, but he reached that total before the All-Star break this season and began adding to it on Aug. 2 with a 4-1 decision at Milwaukee.
He won No. 14 on Aug. 14 against San Francisco, then earned No. 15 at Kansas City and scored his NL high-tying 16th win of his season in his last start on Sept. 4 at Philadelphia.
Zimmermann is only 3-5 in 15 career starts against the Mets and has dropped his last two against New York - including an 11-0 decision on July 26 and a 3-2 verdict on Aug. 30. In those games, he worked a combined 14 1/3 innings while allowing eight runs on 12 hits.
He's opposed by Mets righty Dillon Gee, who's won four of his last five decisions - including two straight.
The 27-year-old was a 5-2 winner at Atlanta in his most recent outing on Sept. 4 and won at Washington, 3-2, five days prior, while combining to allow three runs on 10 hits in 14 2/3 innings.
He is 7-2 in 11 career meetings with the Nationals, and last lost to them on July 27, when he was tagged for four runs on six hits in seven innings of a 4-1 defeat.
Gee is 4-4 at Citi Field this season and hasn't won there since Aug. 8.
On Monday, with a season high-tying five home runs and another masterful performance by Gio Gonzalez against the Mets, the Nationals earned an easy 9-0 win.
Backed by plenty of offense, Gonzalez (10-6) effortlessly carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Zach Lutz broke up the bid on the first pitch he saw at the start of the frame. He bounced one towards first, just past the diving reach of Adam LaRoche, and it clipped the chalk for a fair ball and gave New York its only hit.
The Nationals left-hander went on to throw a complete game and struck out eight with two walks to win his third straight start and fifth consecutive over New York.
Denard Span pushed his hit streak to 20 games, going 3-for-5 and beginning a barrage of Washington home runs. Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Tyler Moore and Wilson Ramos also went deep in the Nats' fifth win in six games.
Carlos Torres (3-4) gave up four of the homers, tagged for six runs in all over four innings.
The Nationals won eight of the first 15 games with the Mets in 2013, though New York took two of three in a series from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.
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