Harper, Desmond out of Nats lineup

After a couple days out of town, I'm back in action. Who missed me? Thanks to the MASNsports.com crew for filling in for me recently. Looks like I missed a couple impressive pitching performances. Anyway, enough about me and on to the stuff that matters. Bryce Harper is out of the Nationals lineup again today, missing his second straight contest with a bruised left knee. Ian Desmond will also sit out today, but his absence is merely due to a scheduled day off. This will be the first game all season that Desmond has not started. Danny Espinosa will slide over to play shortstop in Desmond's stead, and Steve Lombardozzi will get the start at second. Tyler Moore will play left field today, and Roger Bernadina will man right field at Petco Park. Dan Haren gets the ball for the Nats today, looking to continue his steak of solid performances. Haren has an even 3.00 ERA over his last four games, and he has three wins in that span. Right-hander Andrew Cashner will go for the Padres today. Cashner has a 2.84 ERA this season and allowed only one earned run over his last two starts. For the Nats CF Denard Span 2B Steve Lombardozzi 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche LF Tyler Moore RF Roger Bernadina SS Danny Espinosa C Kurt Suzuki RHP Dan Haren For the Padres SS Everth Cabrera CF Will Venable 3B Chase Headley LF Carlos Quentin 1B Yonder Alonso 2B Jedd Gyorko RF Kyle Blanks C Nick Hundley RHP Andrew Cashner