HOUSTON – Hello from Daikin Park in downtown Houston. No, it’s no longer Minute Maid Park. The memories of October 2019 from this place, however, remain, regardless of the stadium’s name.

The Nationals kick off the second leg of their road trip tonight with the opener of a three-game series against the Astros. They just took two of three from the Twins in Minnesota, this after taking two of three from the Reds in D.C. Could they actually pull off three straight series victories? This one should be a stiffer challenge than the last two, especially with Astros ace Framber Valdez on the mound tonight.

Given that tough matchup against one of the best lefties in the league, Miguel Cairo has a very different looking lineup for this one. Most notably, James Wood is not playing for only the second time in his major league career. Wood has been in a significant slump (7-for-64, eight walks, 32 strikeouts over his last 17 games) so you can understand why Cairo may believe it’s a good time to give the young star a physical and mental breather.

Brad Lord, meanwhile, makes his second start since rejoining the rotation. After tossing four innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati, the rookie right-hander should be good to build up to a heavier workload. He threw 50 pitches in that game, so perhaps 65 or so tonight if all goes well?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: Daikin Park
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Alex Call
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
2B Paul DeJong
LF Daylen Lile
3B Brady House
C Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young

RHP Brad Lord

ASTROS
RF Taylor Trammell
LF Jose Altuve
DH Victor Caratini
1B Christian Walker
CF Jacob Melton
C Yainer Diaz
3B Mauricio Dubón
2B Brice Matthews
SS Zack Short

LHP Framber Valdez