Astros seek strong start to road trip vs. Nationals

Houston (24-20) at Washington (16-28) 7:05 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Houston Astros will need to iron out some of their struggles on the road if they wish to catch up in the National League Central Division.

The Astros open a 10-game road trip on Monday when they turn to Wandy Rodriguez in the first of a four-game series with the Washington Nationals.

So far, Houston has been unable to string together any strong efforts away from Minute Maid Park, losing seven of nine road games in May to fall five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals (29-15) for first place in the Central Division.

Making his fifth road start of the season, Rodriguez (5-2, 3.81 ERA) will try to get his team off on the right foot. The lefthander had a strong outing in his previous outing away from home, yielding a run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 11.

The Astros are coming off a 5-0 triumph over the Texas Rangers on Sunday as Taylor Buchholz became the team's first rookie to notch a shutout in nearly four years. Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane each hit a two-run homer for Houston.

The Nationals won their second straight home game, 3-1, on Sunday to capture the "Beltway Series" over the Baltimore Orioles. Livan Hernandez allowed a run in seven innings to claim his first win since April 8.

Washington will put Zach Day (2-4, 5.94) on the mound. The righthander gave up four runs and eight hits in four innings in his last start, a 5-0 loss at the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.