Tracy serving as designated hitter as Nats face Tigers

DETROIT - Hello from the Motor City, where the weather is gorgeous and the city, not surprisingly, just feels empty. This is the first time I've been to Comerica Park, and for what it's worth, I'm really impressed. Nice layout, decent sight lines and lots of concrete sculptures of tigers all over the place. Got to love that. Tonight's Nationals lineup includes Chad Tracy as the designated hitter, with Tracy hitting ninth. Other than that, the lineup remains the same as it has over the last handful of days. Anibal Sanchez starts for the Tigers tonight, which explains Davey Johnson going with the left-handed-hitting Tracy as his DH. Tracy is 0-for-9 with two strikeouts in his career against Sanchez. As I mentioned earlier, and as a lot of you already know, I'm sure, Sanchez has owned the Nats in his career. The Nationals did hand Sanchez a loss back in May, however, getting to the righty for three runs (two earned) on eight hits over six innings. Sanchez walked none and struck out eight. Ian Desmond is batting .286 (8-for-28) off Sanchez, with a homer and three RBIs, Wilson Ramos is batting .385 with a double, an RBI and two walks off the Tigers right-hander. Bryce Harper only has five at-bats against Sanchez but has a homer, a triple and two RBIs. For the Nats LF Bryce Harper 2B Anthony Rendon 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche RF Jayson Werth SS Ian Desmond CF Denard Span C Wilson Ramos DH Chad Tracy RHP Stephen Strasburg For the Tigers CF Austin Jackson RF Torii Hunter 3B Miguel Cabrera 1B Prince Fielder DH Victor Martinez SS Jhonny Peralta LF Andy Dirks C Alex Avila 2B Ramon Santiago RHP Anibal Sanchez