ATLANTA - After two one-run losses vs. the Braves, Gio Gonzalez will try to get the Nationals back on track and earn his 20th win of the season.
Tyler Moore will get his first start of the series, playing left and batting seventh.
For the Nats:
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
LF Tyler Moore
C Kurt Suzuki
P Gio Gonzalez
For the Braves:
CF Michael Bourn
LF Reed Johnson
RF Jason Heyward
3B Chipper Jones
1B Freddie...
ATLANTA - For the second straight game, a left wrist injury is holding Michael Morse out of the Nationals' lineup.
Morse has been bothered by the left wrist for some time now, and he told manager Davey Johnson after Tuesday night's game in New York that he felt he was hurting the team by trying to play through it. The initial plan was for Morse to try taking batting practice prior to tonight's game against the Braves, and then see how he feels.
Once the clubhouse opens, we'll see if that...
Today was originally scheduled to be Stephen Strasburg's final start of the 2012 season.
Those who bought tickets to tonight's Nationals-Mets game at Citi Field hoping to see Strasburg's finale will get John Lannan instead.
Lannan makes his return to the Nationals' rotation tonight as he takes on the Mets in the finale of this three-game series. The veteran left-hander has made two starts with the Nats this season, going 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA over 13 innings.
Those starts were merely...
The Nationals have won 10 of their last 11 games at Citi Field, including six straight.
They look to continue that road dominance tonight against R.A. Dickey and the Mets.
For the Nationals:
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
LF Michael Morse
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
C Kurt Suzuki
P Jordan Zimmermann
For the Mets:
SS Ruben Tejada
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
1B Ike Davis
RF Mike Baxter
LF Jason Bay
CF Andres Torres
C Josh Thole
P R.A. Dickey
The Nationals have Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond back in the lineup after both infielders sat out Sunday's 8-0 loss to the Marlins.
Manager Davey Johnson has planned to give Zimmerman Sunday off and Desmond asked for a bit of a breather to rest his sore hamstring. The Nats will have both their third baseman and shortstop on the field tonight when they open a three-game set with the Mets.
Gio Gonzalez will take the mound for the Nats, shooting for his 19th win of the season. Should he get...
After Saturday's marathon, rain-delayed, 10-inning victory over the Marlins, the Nationals lineup will have a different look for the Sunday series finale.
Both third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and shortstop Ian Desmond will get the day off, meaning a new left side of the infield.
Chad Tracy will play third and Danny Espinosa will man shortstop, with Steve Lombardozzi taking over for Espinosa at second base.
Here's the lineup that will face right-hander Ricky Nolasco:
2B Steve Lombardozzi
CF...
Fresh off of a 10-inning loss, the Nationals will get set to bounce back as they enjoy an afternoon game against the Marlins.
Jesus Flores will be behind the plate and bat in the eighth slot, as he'll work with the left-hander Ross Detwiler as the Nats look for win No. 86. Flores replaces Kurt Suzuki in the lineup.
For the Nationals:
Werth RF
Harper CF
Zimmerman 3B
Morse LF
LaRoche 1B
Desmond SS
Espinosa 2B
Flores C
Detwiler LHP
The Nationals get their second crack at Marlins rookie hurler Jacob Turner in a 10-day span as the right-hander will take the mound tonight against a Nats lineup which is crushing pretty much everything of late.
Over their recent nine-game stretch, the Nats have won eight games, they've plated eight runs or more a whopping seven times.
Taking the mound for the Nationals tonight will of course be Stephen Stasburg, who is making his final home start this season.
For the Nats:
RF Jayson Werth...
Both Jayson Werth (hamstring cramp) and Adam LaRoche (sore back) are in the Nationals' lineup for this afternoon's game against the Cubs.
Werth was pulled in the ninth inning of Saturday's game after feeling his hamstring cramp up, and he was a late scratch from the lineup yesterday. LaRoche has been battling a sore back the last three or four days and was held out of the lineup yesterday, although he did pinch-hit in the sixth inning.
The Nationals will face Cubs righty Jeff Samardzija,...
Rosters have expanded and the Nationals have added four players to their active roster.
Left-hander John Lannan, catcher Sandy Leon and outfielder Eury Perez have been officially recalled, while outfielder Mark DeRosa has been activated off the 15-day DL.
The Nats also announced that catcher Jhonatan Solano has been reinstated from the DL and optioned to Double-A Harrisburg.
More to come.
Here's the Nationals lineup for this afternoon:
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan...
The 1-7 spots in the Nationals' lineup remain the same as the Nats prepare to take on Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright.
Kurt Suzuki returns to the lineup behind the plate with his buddy, Gio Gonzalez, taking the mound tonight.
Gonzalez is 4-0 with a 3.22 ERA in seven starts against the National League Central this season.
Wainwright is 13-10 with a 3.63 ERA this season, but he hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last eight starts. In that span, he's 6-1 with a...
Jesus Flores is behind the plate for the Nationals tonight as they kick off a four-game set with the Cardinals, while St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina has returned to the lineup after missing one game with upper-body strains resulting from a violent home plate collision.
A night after Kurt Suzuki hit his first homer as a National, he'll back Flores up. Neither catcher has faced Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia in their career.
It'll be Garcia and Edwin Jackson on the mound tonight in the...
Davey Johnson has his regulars back and healthy, so he'll run them out there.
The Nationals were held scoreless yesterday and managed just five hits, but Johnson will keep his lineup the same for tonight's game against the Marlins.
The Nats will take their hacks against 21-year-old right-hander Jacob Turner, making his second start for the Marlins since coming over from the Tigers in the Anibal Sanchez trade.
For the Nats:
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam...
The Nationals will get a jolt to their lineup as they look to snap a four-game losing streak tonight.
Both Ian Desmond and Michael Morse will return after missing almost the entirety of the Nats' recent three-game series with the Phillies due to injuries.
Desmond (strained right hamstring) technically appeared in Sunday's game when he was announced as a pinch-hitter, but that was just a ploy by manager Davey Johnson to get the Phillies to bring in a right-handed reliever. Desmond was then...
PHILADELPHIA - Cliff Lee has one more win than Orioles first baseman Chris Davis this season.
He has two more wins than you and I.
Baseball is such a strange game.
Lee leads the majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio and his 3.78 ERA is far from awful. But his record this season is just 2-7, an incredibly bizarre mark this late in the season for a pitcher as talented as he is.
The lefty will oppose Jordan Zimmermann this afternoon in what should be a pretty nice battle for the final game of this...
PHILADELPHIA - There's no Michael Morse or Ian Desmond in the Nationals lineup against the Phillies tonight.
Here's the batting order that will face Roy Halladay at 7:05 p.m.:
2B Steve Lombardozzi
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Jayson Werth
LF Roger Bernadina
SS Danny Espinosa
C Kurt Suzuki
P Gio Gonzalez
Morse, who was removed from last night's game after being struck by a pitch in the first inning, reports that the swelling has gone down but that the hand feels...
PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals kick off a brief five-game road trip tonight against the Phillies, who come into this three-game set riding a bit of an emotional high after last night's walk-off win over the Reds.
The Cincinnati loss puts the Nats three games up on the Reds in the loss column for the best record in baseball. The Nats also got some help from the Giants last night, as the Braves dropped a game out west to push them 6 1/2 games back in the National League East.
The Nats will send...
We've got a battle of promising 26-year-old hurlers in the series finale between the Nationals and Braves.
The Nats will take their hacks at right-hander Kris Medlen, who has torn it up for the Braves since moving into the rotation July 31.
He's 3-0 in his four starts this season, and hasn't allowed more than one run in any of those four outings.
His last time out, Medlen pitched a five-hit, complete-game shutout against the Padres, walking none and striking out six.
So yeah, he's kind...
The Nationals won't have to deal with Chipper Jones tonight, as the future Hall of Fame third baseman is out of the Braves lineup.
The 40-year-old Jones played all 13 innings last night, but won't be starting against Stephen Strasburg in Game 2 of this big division series.
Jones went 1-for-5 with a walk last night. He came into this series with three homers in his past three games.
The Nats will face off against left-hander Paul Maholm, who the Braves acquired from the Cubs prior to the...
I guess it's fitting that for a series which could play a major role in determining the National League East champion, we'll get three pretty strong pitching matchups.
Tonight, Jordan Zimmermann (9-7, 2.38 ERA) and veteran Braves right-hander Tim Hudson (12-4, 3.59 ERA) will kick things off.
Zimmermann hasn't faced the Braves yet this season, but he's 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in three career starts against the boys from Atlanta.
It's a small sample size, but only one of seven Braves hitters...