The set-up: Bryce Harper has appealed the suspension for his role in Monday's brawl and will be in the lineup when the Washington Nationals wrap up their three-game series against the host San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. The Nats are going for a three-game road sweep, after winning 3-0 on Monday and 6-3 last night. Washington has now won seven of its last nine contests (leads the NL East by 8 1/2 games with a 32-19 record), while the Giants have dropped six of their last eight and at 22-32, sit 11 1/2 games back in the NL West with a record better than only the 21-33 Padres in the division.

The pitching matchup: Max Scherzer (5-3 & 2.77 ERA) gets the nod for Washington and Matt Cain (3-3 & 4.45 ERA) for San Francisco. Scherzer struck out a season-best 13 while dominating San Diego in his last start, when he gave up one run and three hits in 8 2/3 innings of a 5-1 victory. He leads the NL with 89 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .189 batting average while posting a 0.94 WHIP. That Nats should be better than just 6-4 in his 10 starts. However, Scherzer has not pitched well against the Giants in his career, going is 2-4 with a 5.30 ERA in seven career starts against the Giants (teams are 2-5). Cain has been inconsistent over his last five starts (he's 1-3 / team is 2-3), twice giving up just one earned run and twice allowing seven or more. Cain is 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 17 career starts against the Nationals (Giants are 11-6) and didn't allow a run while beating them twice last season.

The pick: It's difficult to predict what to expect from Cain these days but the Giants remain in a funk and have averaged a woeful 3.31 RPG in going 13-13 at home. Meanwhile, Scherzer almost always gives the Nats an excellent chance to win and Washington is 16-10 on the road, where the Nats are averaging a healthy 5.62 RPG. Make Washington an 8* play