Washington Nationals right-hander Anibal Sanchez will start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night, facing righty Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals, the teams announced Thursday.
Nationals starters Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin both pitched in Wednesday's Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Max Scherzer started a Game 4 win Monday.
Sanchez started Game 3 of that series on Sunday, giving up one run on four hits and two walks, recording nine strikeouts over five innings with no decision.
The Cardinals will start Adam Wainwright in Game 2 of the NLCS, followed by ace Jack Flaherty in Game 3 and Dakota Hudson in Game 4.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez said X-rays showed nothing broken on the hand of catcher Kurt Suzuki, who was hit by a pitch in Washington's win on Wednesday night.
Suzuki was going to go through concussion protocol once the Nationals arrived in St. Louis.
Suzuki was taken out of the game in the seventh inning when a high-and-tight fastball from Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler deflected off his wrist and struck his face. The impact could be heard in the stadium, and Suzuki crashed to the ground and appeared to be in a lot of pain.
Nationals center fielder Victor Robles, who missed the last two games of the series against the Dodgers with a strained right hamstring, will be checked out Friday before the game to determine his status.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
