Desmond hitting cleanup in West Coast finale
The Nationals will happily put a cap on their rocky 10-game West Coast road trip today when they face the Giants in the finale of this three-game set. Manager Davey Johnson has tweaked his lineup again, moving Ian Desmond into the cleanup spot and bumping Adam LaRoche down to the No. 5 hole in the order against Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner. Tyler Moore will play left field and hit sixth today. Bumgarner is coming off the worst start of his career; he allowed nine runs his last...The Nationals will happily put a cap on their rocky 10-game West Coast road trip today when they face the Giants in the finale of this three-game set. Manager Davey Johnson has tweaked his lineup again, moving Ian Desmond into the cleanup spot and bumping Adam LaRoche down to the No. 5 hole in the order against Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner. Tyler Moore will play left field and hit sixth today. Bumgarner is coming off the worst start of his career; he allowed nine runs his last time out in a loss to the Rockies. The lefty is 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA this season. Gio Gonzalez (3-2, 4.01 ERA) gets the ball today for the Nats, who are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. For the Nats CF Denard Span RF Bryce Harper 3B Ryan Zimmerman SS Ian Desmond 1B Adam LaRoche LF Tyler Moore 2B Danny Espinosa C Kurt Suzuki LHP Gio Gonzalez