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WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals will try again Saturday to cool off Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera.

That is something nobody has been able to in more than a week.

Herrera homered for the fifth straight game and finished with four hits Friday night Authentic Customized Rams Jerseys , helping the Phillies rout the Washington Nationals 12-2 in the opener of a three-game series.

He is hitting .472 (17 for 36) with six homers, 11 runs and 10 RBIs in his last eight games and raised his season average to .308.

“I don’t think there’s any words for it. I mean it’s simply incredible what he can do,” Friday’s starter and winner Zac Eflin said.

“The thing with Odubel is that he can shake off anything at any given time. … It can look like he’s struggling and then next pitch he hits it 440 feet.”

Herrera hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the third inning for his 13th homer of the season, matching the club record for consecutive games with a long ball. He has connected in six of his last seven overall.

The Phillies (40-33) pounded out 15 hits and jumped ahead of the Nationals (40-34) for second place in the National League East behind the Atlanta Braves.

“To me, today was the first game where we really got blown out. That was a blowout right there,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said after Washington lost for the eighth time in 11 games, including the completion of a suspended game.

“We’ve just got to keep our heads up, guys go home and rest, come back tomorrow and do it again.”

Washington’s Michael A. Taylor extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double and Bryce Harper went 1-for-3 with a walk in the leadoff spot.

The Phillies got a homer and four RBIs from Carlos Santana, who also singled and walked twice.

Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.55) opposes rookie RHP Erick Fedde (0-2, 5.63) in a matchup of 2014 first-round draft picks on Saturday. Nola was the seventh overall pick in the first-year player draft and Fedde was the 18th.

Nola hasn’t taken a loss since May 20 but scuffled in his last start, allowing four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of a no-decision at Milwaukee. The Phillies prevailed 10-9.

“My command really wasn’t where it usually is,” Nola told mlb.com. “My fastball was cutting a little bit and missing off the plate a little bit. They had a good approach against me.”

Against the Nationals, Nola is 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 starts. Harper is 8-for-17 with two home runs versus Nola, Daniel Murphy is 8-for-20 and Anthony Rendon is 4-for-17.

Fedde makes his fourth start of the season for Washington and third since replacing injured Stephen Strasburg in the rotation. He’s coming off a loss to the Yankees on Monday Authentic Customized Chargers Jerseys , when he allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“He pitched well except when he made one mistake,” Martinez told the Washington Post, referring to Aaron Hicks’ two-run homer in the fifth. “We were very, very excited to see this.”

Fedde will be making his first career start against the Phillies.

LOS ANGELES — Two things Clayton Kershaw clearly hates: Being on the disabled list and having pitch restrictions while on the mound.

The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ left-hander might be done with both when he takes the mound Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kershaw will be making his third start since coming off the disabled list for his most recent back injury and has been trending in a positive direction.

What Kershaw would like to see is more of the offense the Dodgers showed in Monday’s series opener, when the club scored 17 runs on 21 hits in an easy victory.

Tasked with slowing that offense at Dodger Stadium, while matching Kershaw pitch for pitch, will be Pirates right-hander Ian Nova.

If Kershaw is almost all the way back on top after an injury, Nova is there already. In four starts since coming off the DL because of a sprained right finger, Nova is 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA.

Kershaw is only this far along in his return from the DL because the Dodgers pulled a last-minute switch on June 23, and had him pitch in New York against the Mets instead of with Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab outing.

Kershaw threw 55 pitches against the Mets, giving up two runs on five hits over three innings. On June 28 against the Chicago Cubs, Kershaw was back at it, throwing 68 pitches while giving up one run on four hits over five innings.

A natural progression would have Kershaw at about 80 pitches on Tuesday, but Kershaw has a way of getting more out of himself when the situation requires it.

“I’ve proven that I’m healthy,” Kershaw told reporters after his most recent start. “So now, next time out I’m sure the restriction should hopefully be pretty close to off. (I will) get ready and just try to beat an opponent.”

Nova has thrown between 86 and 94 pitches in his four starts since coming off the DL and has given up one or no runs in three of those outings. The one where he did not was on Wednesday at New York. But he did hold the Mets to three runs over six innings Authentic Customized Dolphins Jerseys , keeping the Pirates close enough to put together a ninth-inning rally for a victory.

That victory was part of a Pirates run where they won four of six games and took series at New York and San Diego. Sure there was a five-game losing streak before that, but going back even further, the Pirates had won four of five.

So even though they were roughed up by the Dodgers on Monday, the Pirates have learned the value of resiliency.

“We’re well aware of what we need to improve upon,” manager Clint Hurdle said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’re well aware of our monthly progress and then some of our monthly challenges. Love the fact that the game brings attention to specific areas, daily, weekly, monthly, and then I love to watch how some guys are able to fight and battle and work through it.”

Up next is a challenge against Kershaw, who is 2-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 career starts against Pittsburgh. The Pirates are one of two National League teams Kershaw has a losing record against in the regular season, along with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nova knows his way around the Dodgers, going 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts, one in each of the previous two seasons.