Football
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Nationals seek sixth victory in seven games

WASHINGTON -- As badly as they want to, the Washington
Nationals can't play all of their games against teams from the
"Sunshine State."

The Nationals try to ride some recent momentum into the opener
of their four-game series with the San Diego Padres as the teams
square off Friday at RFK Stadium.

Washington had lost 13 of 16 before opening a seven-game stretch
against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Florida Marlins. The
Nationals won five of those contests, capped by an 8-7 triumph
over the Marlins on Thursday. Ryan Zimmerman continued his
impressive rookie season, delivering the game-winning single in
the 11th inning.

Nick Johnson added a two-run double and Brian Schneider scored
twice for Washington, which will give the ball to Ramon Ortiz
(6-6, 4.90 ERA) in the series opener vs. San Diego.

Ortiz has worked into the seventh inning in seven of his last
eight starts, including a 6-2 triumph against the Devil Rays on
Sunday. The righthander yielded only one run and four hits in
seven frames to snap a personal two-game skid.

Woody Williams (3-1, 3.04) counters for San Diego as the veteran
righthander makes his second start since returning from the
disabled list. He permitted just one run in six innings
Saturday but did not factor into a 4-1 loss to San Francisco.

The Padres took two of three in Philadelphia this week, capped
by a 5-3 win on Thursday. Rookie Josh Barfield collected a
career-high four hits and Chan Ho Park worked seven solid
innings for San Diego.

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