The Nationals look to get back in their series with the Padres on Saturday as they send San Diego native Stephen Strasburg to the hill to slow a skid of five losses in their last seven games.

Strasburg did quite well Sunday in Miami, pitching eight shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out 11 in a 5-0 Nats win over the Marlins. Strasburg is 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA. His last start at Nats Park against the Padres was May 27, 2017, when he tossed seven innings and struck out a career-high 15 batters.

The Padres feature all southpaw starters in this three-game set. Saturday’s opponent is left-hander Eric Lauer (2-3, 4.67). The 23-year-old Lauer pitched six shutout innings March 28 on opening day against the Giants, becoming the youngest pitcher to toss six or more innings on opening day since Clayton Kershaw in 2011.

Nationals manager Davey Martinez does not want his club to hang it’s head, despite its recent 2-5 streak.

“I want the guys to keep their heads up and keep playing hard,” Martinez said following Friday’s loss. “They’re playing hard. We’ll win games, we will. They’re playing really hard, that’s all I can say. You come in the game for (Kyle) Barraclough and the guy fouls off a couple pitches and he walks the leadoff hitter, that’s never good. Those little nuances, we got to clean up. We really do. And once we do, we’ll take off. I know we will.

“We just got to keep battling. Couple guys look like they were swinging the bats a lot better, and today we just couldn’t get nothing going. I like our lineup, (Ryan Zimmerman’s) going to come out of it, I know it. (Brian) Dozier’s swinging the bat better. So, we’re going to keep pushing and we’re going to come out and win a lot of games.”

Right fielder Adam Eaton extended his hitting streak to a season-long 11 games with a leadoff single Friday night. Catcher Yan Gomes connected with three hits and a homer Friday, his second of the season. Gomes is batting .444 (8-for-18) with two homers, three RBIs and five walks in his career against the Padres.

Update: Martinez said before the game that third baseman Anthony Rendon is “still a little sore” with the elbow injury suffered last week in Miami. The skipper said he wanted to give Rendon rest and have him available to pinch hit later in the game.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Where: Nationals Park

Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT

TV: MASN, MLB.tv

Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, MLB.com

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 67 degrees, no precipitation, winds 16 mph from left field

NATIONALS (11-13)

RF Adam Eaton

CF Victor Robles

3B Howie Kendrick

LF Juan Soto

1B Ryan Zimmerman

C Yan Gomes

2B Brian Dozier

RHP Stephen Strasburg

SS Carter Kieboom

PADRES (15-11)

SS Fernando Tatis Jr.

CF Wil Myers

3B Manny Machado

RF Franmil Reyes

1B Eric Hosmer

LF Hunter Renfroe

2B Ian Kinsler

C Francisco Mejía

LHP Eric Lauer