LaRoche not in Nats lineup, Harper hitting cleanup (with Dodgers lineup)

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

July 19, 2013, 11:34am

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Davey Johnson has done some more tinkering to his lineup for the first game of the second half, and one of the moves makes me wonder if something's up. Adam LaRoche is not in the Nationals lineup today. Chad Tracy will instead play first base. The Nats are facing Dodgers right-hander Ricky Nolasco today, and Tracy (like LaRoche) is a left-handed hitter, so it's not as if Johnson is taking LaRoche out as some sort of platoon. The first game after the All-Star break, LaRoche just isn't in the lineup against a righty. Interesting. I'll obviously pass along more when I know it. Denard Span is back at the top of the Nats order today, after getting dropped to seventh in the final game of the first half. Bryce Harper will hit cleanup, Ryan Zimmerman will bat third and Jayson Werth is in the lineup batting fifth after fouling a ball off his foot in the first-half finale in Miami. For the Nats CF Denard Span 2B Anthony Rendon 3B Ryan Zimmerman LF Bryce Harper RF Jayson Werth SS Ian Desmond 1B Chad Tracy C Wilson Ramos RHP Stephen Strasburg For the Dodgers LF Carl Crawford RF Yasiel Puig 1B Adrian Gonzalez SS Aramis Ramirez CF Andre Ethier C A.J. Ellis 3B Juan Uribe 2B Mark Ellis RHP Ricky Nolasco