First pitch: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Nationals will be going for their third straight victory when they host the Mets on Tuesday.

The Mets have not been playing their best baseball recently, losing two straight games and six of their past 10. New York has struggled offensively, scoring three or less runs in seven of those games. The lineup must find a way to produce more or this team might just continue to slide in the standings. The Nationals, meanwhile, have now won two straight games after losing seven straight prior to defeating the Brewers in the final game of a three-game set on Sunday. Washington teed off on New York on Monday, winning 11-4. The Nationals collected 17 hits in that game and they’ll be hoping to bring some of that offensive magic into Tuesday’s meeting with the Mets. The starters in this one are set to be RHP Matt Harvey (4-9, 4.64 ERA, 69 K) for New York and RHP Lucas Giolito (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0 K) for Washington. This is Giolotio’s first career start, but he is a highly touted prospect and will be looking to make a splash with a big division win over the Mets in this one. The Nationals remain without RHP Jonathan Papelbon (Side) for the next few games, so things could get interesting if this is a close game in the ninth inning.

The Mets will be hoping to snap out of their recent funk and come away with a big victory over a division rival on Tuesday, but they’ll need the best stuff Matt Harvey has to offer. This Nationals offense just put up 11 runs on Monday and is going to be feeling good coming into this game. Harvey has, however, pitched pretty well in his past few trips to the mound. He has allowed two or less earned runs in four of his past five starts and that is good news for a guy that really struggled to open the season. One issue for Harvey is that he has been miserable against the Nationals in his past two outings against the team, allowing 11 earned runs in just 7.2 innings of work. He’ll need to find a way to keep the ball in the park, as Washington hit four homers in those two games. Offensively, OF Yoenis Cespedes (.289, 18 HR, 45 RBI) is a guy to watch out for in this game. Cespedes has not homered since Jun. 21, but he has a golden opportunity to go yard in this one. He’s going to be facing an inexperienced pitcher and will certainly be looking to capitalize on any mistakes that Giolito makes.

Lucas Giolioto is one of the Nationals’ prize prospects and Washington is hoping that he’ll get off to a good start to his career versus a Mets team that struggles to hit the ball. Giolito was 5-3 with a 3.17 ERA and 72 K in 14 starts at the AA level. Those hitters are nothing like what he’ll be seeing on Tuesday though. He’ll need to make sure he pitches to his spots and controls his nerves in this one. Luckily for him, a ton of Nationals will be chomping at the bit for a chance to face Harvey in this game. 1B Ryan Zimmerman (.229, 10 HR, 33 RBI) is 6-for-22 with two homers and three RBI against Harvey in his career, 2B Daniel Murphy (.350, 12 HR, 50 RBI) is 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI against him and Anthony Rendon (.256, 7 HR, 29 RBI) is 6-for-17 with a homer and four RBI in the matchup. All three guys have his number and will be hoping to keep it up on Tuesday. Giolito can certainly use the run support.