Game 65 lineups: Nats vs. Rangers

A win today and the Nationals would salvage a 3-3 homestand. Nothing wrong with that, especially when you consider how much they’ve been struggling at the plate. The Nats have scored nine total runs over their last six games. They were shut out Saturday afternoon by the Rangers. The two games they have won this week came by the same score of 2-0. Suffice it to say, more is needed.

It’s a very different matchup today than Saturday. Instead of a potential future Hall of Famer in Jacob deGrom, the Nationals will face left-handed reliever Jacob Latz to begin what looks like a bullpen game for Texas. Latz has made 12 appearances this season, with a 2.95 ERA and 1.418 WHIP. Lefties are batting just .143 against him. He has topped the 38-pitch mark four times, so he could be good for more than one inning if Bruce Bochy decides to go that way.

Trevor Williams starts for the Nats, and he needs to be better than he was against the Cubs last time out (five runs in 4 1/3 innings). The right-hander enters with a 6.03 ERA. With an off-day Monday in advance of this week’s series at the Mets, Davey Martinez might be inclined to go to his bullpen early without fear of burning guys up.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 73 degrees, wind 10 mph in from right field

RANGERS
1B Josh Smith
RF Sam Haggerty
SS Corey Seager
2B Marcus Semien
3B Josh Jung
CF Evan Carter
DH Jake Burger
LF Alejandro Osuna
C Jonah Heim

LHP Jacob Latz

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
LF James Wood
3B Amed Rosario
1B Nathaniel Lowe
DH Josh Bell
C Riley Adams
2B Luis García Jr.
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

RHP Trevor Williams