Series Preview: Nationals @ Padres

The Nationals take their division leading show on the road starting Tuesday to face the Padres, kicking off a west-coast road trip.  This means weird start times for the games and also games that will be lasting well past midnight.  Fun times.  Good news is that the Padres have started off their season 5-12, basically the polar opposite of the 12-4 Nat's.  I know its early in the season, but it is important that the Nat's take advantage of series against teams like the Astros and Padres to build upon their lead.  After all, I have a feeling the Philies won't be staying in the basement of the NL East for long...

• Tuesday: 10:05 PM, Gonzalez (1-0) vs Richard (1-1).
• Wednesday: 6:35 PM, Zimmerman (0-1) vs Wieland (0-2).
• Thursday: 10:05 PM, Jackson (1-1) vs Volquez (0-2).   

My original pick for the Must-See game of this series was going to be Wednesday, as it is the only game that will be starting at a reasonable time.  However, the Capitals will now be playing Game 7 of their series against Boston that day.  In light of that, why not call out of work on Friday and stay up late to watch Jackson vs Volquez on Friday.  Each pitcher has similar numbers on the year and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it might be a high scoring affair.