Washington Nationals vs Cleveland Indians Live Stream Free: Watch Online Contending Teams in Baseball at 7:05 PM ET from Progressive Field in Cleveland

The Indians match up with the Nationals tonight at home with both teams needing to win games to get back into the pennant race. 

Coming off a lackluster road trip, the Indians hope Justin Masterson, tonight's starting pitcher, can continue his home dominance in Friday night's series opener with the Washington Nationals.

Cleveland has been struggling lately, having begun a nine-game road trip by losing seven in a row before finding some solace in winning the last two, including Wednesday's 5-2 victory at Texas.

"It takes a little pressure off," second baseman Jason Kipnis told mlb.com. "You get a happy flight home, you get a day off, you get a little momentum on your side, you get to go home for a long homestand."

A nine-game homestand may be just what the Indians need to begin cutting into the 4 1/2-game gap on AL Central-leading Detroit. Hosting an NL foe may be even better since they've won seven in a row in Cleveland in interleague play, batting .341 with 15 homers while averaging 7.6 runs.

The pitching staff has been particularly outstanding in four home interleague wins this year, compiling a 1.25 ERA with the rotation getting each victory.

Masterson (8-5, 3.68 ERA) was responsible for one of them, allowing one run with seven strikeouts in six innings of a 5-2 win over Cincinnati on May 29. He's won three straight interleague starts at Progressive Field, yielding two runs with 25 strikeouts in 22 innings.

The right-hander is 5-1 with a 2.36 ERA in seven home starts in 2013.

Masterson, who is making his first career start versus Washington, hasn't been nearly as effective on the road, compiling an 8.06 ERA while losing four starts in a row, two on Cleveland's recent trip.

The Nationals (33-32) are hoping for a similar result for Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.59), who is facing the Indians for the first time since Sept. 1, 2011, with Oakland. The left-hander is 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA in six career meetings, winning all four visits to Progressive Field.

He's needed some help from the lineup lately, going 0-1 with a 2.27 ERA while being backed by 11 total runs over his last six games.

The bats provided him two runs Saturday, while he allowed three in six innings of a 4-3 loss in 11 at Minnesota.

Washington, though, has since won four of five behind a .292 average after winning 5-4 at Colorado on Thursday. Still, the team is 5 1/2 games back of NL East-leading Atlanta.

The game can be viewed on tv at MASN 2 HD and heard on the radio at 106.7, The Fan and WFED 1500. Tick