The Colorado Rockies return from a weekend matchup against the Texas Rangers as losers in two of their last three games. It doesn't get any easier on Monday when the team returns to Coors Field to face the N.L. East-leading Washington Nationals.

The Rockies will get their first live look at one of the league's best young pitchers: Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg (9-1, 2.46 ERA) has missed out on the Rockies until this point in his career. The National League-leading strikeout artists with 110, Strasburg has struck out at least eight batters in each of his four June starts and tied his season high of 13 during that stretch. Will he be able to stretch his winning streak to seven straight games?

The Rockies will have Jeff Francis (0-1, 8.56 ERA), who showed great improvement in his third start with the team. After allowing 12 runs in 8.2 innings over his first two starts, Francis surrendered just one run in five innings to the Philadelphia Phillies. However, he didn't get the win since the Rockies scored its four runs in the seventh and ninth innings.

This game will be played at 6:40 p.m. MT and can be seen on ROOT Sports and heard on 850 KOA.

For more on these teams, visit Rockies blog Purple Row and Nationals blog Federal Baseball. Check out Baseball Nation and MLB Daily Dish for more news and notes around the league.