Washington Nationals will face the Philadelphia Phillies WATCH FREE Live Streaming ONline Major League Baseball from Citizens Bank Park at 7:05 PM ET

While Stephen Strasburg has encountered a few bumps in the early going, he was at his best in his last start.

Strasburg takes the mound opposite veteran, Cliff Lee, as the Nationals open a three-game series at Philadelphia on Friday night.

Strasburg (2-2, 4.24 ERA) has posted mixed results over his first six starts, allowing at least four runs in half of those outings and a combined three in the others. He's struck out 53 in 34 innings, but opponents are hitting .269 against him after he held batters to a .216 average in his first four seasons.

Strasburg had everything working, though, in last Friday's 11-1 win over San Diego. He allowed seven hits -- all singles -- and struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings.

"I'm just trying to make quality pitches and not necessarily be overaggressive, but throwing the heater down the middle and challenge them," he said.

Strasburg now turns his attention to the Phillies, whom he baffled in three outings last year. Strasburg went 2-0 while allowing one earned run and 11 hits with 29 strikeouts over 23 innings.

Lee (3-2, 3.29) gets the ball after Kyle Kendrick was skipped with the Phillies (13-13) having three days off this week. Lee didn't receive a decision after allowing five runs -- three earned -- over six innings in Saturday's 6-5 win at Arizona.

"They were getting hits. I was missing on the plate a little bit, but they got their fair share of hits on decent pitches, too. Those things happen," he said.

Lee will try to get back on track at home, where he is 0-2 despite a 2.40 ERA. The left-hander has struck out 21 over 15 innings in those outings while receiving a combined two runs of support.

The Nationals have taken seven of nine from Philadelphia by a combined 58-26 score.

The game will be live streaming online at gofirstrowus.eu/sport/baseball.html‎