Game 98 lineups: Nats vs. Brewers

There's only one National League team the Nationals have yet to see in person this season. That will change tonight when they take the field to face the Brewers in the opener of a three-game series. It's been a surprising year for Milwaukee, which took advantage of the Cubs and Cardinals' struggles to lead the Central Division for most of the last 3 1/2 months. Things have begun to slide, though, and now the lead over the Cubs is down to a half-game, with the Pirates lurking three games back entering play today.

The Nationals should be rested and refreshed after enjoying a day off at home at the end of a long road trip that included a bunch of roster moves and a pieced-together win in Arizona on Sunday after Stephen Strasburg was pulled in the third inning with an achy forearm. (No update yet on Strasburg; we'll hopefully have something this afternoon.)

Edwin Jackson makes his second start, hoping to duplicate what he did last week in Anaheim. What made Jackson so effective against the Angels? He was efficient (91 pitches in seven innings) and he didn't walk anybody, forcing them to beat him with hits. We'll see if he can keep that up.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, XM 183/869, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 8 mph in from left field

NATIONALS (59-38)
CF Brian Goodwin
SS Stephen Drew
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Daniel Murphy
3B Anthony Rendon
LF Adam Lind
C Matt Wieters
RHP Edwin Jackson

BREWERS (53-48)
2B Eric Sogard
LF Ryan Braun
3B Travis Shaw
RF Domingo Santana
1B Eric Thames
C Manny Piña
CF Brett Phillips
SS Orlando Arcia
RHP Zach Davies