SAN FRANCISCO -- Two teams that would be National League first-round playoff opponents square off Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series that will feature neither teams staff ace.The Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants will take identical 59-42 records onto the field for the first of seven games they will play coast to coast over the next 11 days.The Nationals, who lead the NL East by four games over the Miami Marlins, rode ace Stephen Strasburgs strong seven-inning outing to a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday before boarding a flight to San Francisco.The Giants, meanwhile, retained a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL West despite a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, a game in which ace Madison Bumgarner lost despite allowing only two runs (one earned) in eight innings.By virtue of both having pitched Wednesday, neither Strasburg nor Bumgarner is scheduled to start again until next week.Interestingly, both are tentatively slated to pitch a week from Sunday, when the Giants and Nationals wrap up a three-game series in Washington.Thursdays first 2016 meeting of the division leaders will pit Giants center Denard Span against his former team for the first time since he left as a free agent over the winter.Washington might finally have found an adequate replacement atop the batting order in Trea Turner, the offensive star the Wednesday win with three hits and three RBI.He is batting .297 in eight games as the Nationals leadoff hitter after the earlier Span replacements struggled at a .214 clip.Hes fun to watch, Strasburg said of Turner after Wednesdays game. I was just excited the other day to finally watch him hit a triple. I was waiting for that for such a long time, just to see him run.The Nationals will be catching Span in his hottest stretch of the season. The Giants leadoff man has recorded two more hits in nine of his past 16 games, raising his average to .256.The Nationals will begin the San Francisco portion of the seven-game sequence by sending right-hander Tanner Roark to the mound.Roark has been roughed up on a regular basis over his past nine starts, allowing four or more runs on four different occasions, including in his last outing against the San Diego Padres.Roark gave up a pair of home runs among four hits in five innings against the Padres, allowing all San Diegos scoring in 5-3 Washington loss last Friday.Home runs were plentiful in the Giants just-completed series with the Cincinnati Reds, during which San Francisco pitchers allowed eight long balls in three games.That was the most home runs allowed by the Giants in a three-game series in AT&T Park history.The homers led directly to a pair of Reds wins, which dropped San Franciscos record since the All-Star break to 2-9.Weve been through this plenty of times, and we know what its about, Bumgarner said of the Giants struggles of late. Things will turn around for us.Right-hander Johnny Cueto (13-2) gets the call for the Giants on Thursday. In his most recent outing, he allowed one run, which was unearned, in six innings Saturday during a no-decision against the Yankees at New York. San Francisco won 2-1 in 12 innings.Outside of the pitching matchups, second base will be a position of focus in the weekend series.Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy smacked his 20th home run of the season in the series finale against Cleveland. He will take the field Thursday with the NLs best batting average (.354).The Giants, meanwhile, have gone 23 games without their star second baseman, Joe Panik, who is recovering from a concussion. San Francisco has gone just 10-13 during that stretch.Panik began a rehab stint at Triple-A Sacramento earlier this week, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy hopes to have his 2015 All-Star, a .300 hitter in each of the previous two seasons, back in the lineup by the weekend.Cheap Nuggets Jerseys China . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Thomas Welsh Jersey . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. http://www.cheapnuggetsjerseys.com/ . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Cheap Swingman Nuggets Jerseys .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park.The upcoming ICC World Twenty20 game between India and Pakistan has been moved from Dharamsala to Kolkata due to security concerns.The match, originally due to be held at the HPCA Stadium on March 19, has been moved to Kolkatas Eden Gardens after members of the Pakistan delegation raised concerns about their sides safety in Dharamsala.The Pakistan Cricket Board wrote to the International Cricket Councils chief executive David Richardson on Tuesday requesting an alternative venue for the match. Members of a Pakistani security team raised concerns about security at Dharamsala The decision has been taken following consultation with the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), the relevant state associations, the ICC and BCCI security consultant and other relevant authorities, said the former South Africa cricketer, at press conference on Wednesday.The decision to relocate the match has been made for ssecurity reasons.dddddddddddd The concerns initially arose following alleged public comments recently reported by the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, warning of demonstration and attempts to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the match.Our concerns relate both to uncertainty as to the level of those threats as well as the level of commitment to implement any security plan developed to mitigate such threats.Hosts India and Pakistan face each other in Group Two, which also includes Australia, New Zealand and a qualifier.All of Pakistan and Indias other Group Two fixtures are due to be played at their original venues.Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all 35 games in 27 days of the 2016 ICC World T20, with Englands first game against the West Indies live on Sky Sports 2 from 1.30pm on Wednesday 16th March. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.Also See:ICC World T20 fixturesICC World T20 squadsWATCH: Best of 2014 World T20Pick your Ultimate World T20 XI ' ' '