Game 110 lineups: Nats vs. Giants

Is tonight's game more important than the typical game? Well, it could be. You see, with a win tonight the Nationals would win the season series from the Giants, and that could come into play this fall should the two teams end up tied in the standings. If you think it's pointless to consider such miniscule possibilities, just know the manager cares about these kinds of things.

"This is big," Dusty Baker said. "For those of us that have been in the playoffs many times, you realize how important these head-to-heads are at the end. But those that haven't been in there, at the end they wish that we had done or played better. Because if we had to end the season (today), we'd have to start in Chicago. Or if we had to (stop) the season now, we end up tied or something, we'd have a playoff game in L.A., which isn't to our favor. And you could very well have to go through San Francisco."

So the Nationals hope Stephen Strasburg has yet another gem in him tonight, good enough to raise his record to 16-1. And the Nats hope they can do more damage to Matt Cain than they did last weekend, when the veteran right-hander held them hitless for five innings before getting pulled with a high pitch count ...

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, XM 89, MLB.com
Weather: Rain ending early, 84 degrees, wind 6 mph out to right field

NATIONALS (65-44)
2B Trea Turner
LF Jayson Werth
RF Bryce Harper
1B Daniel Murphy
C Wilson Ramos
3B Anthony Rendon
SS Danny Espinosa
CF Ben Revere
RHP Stephen Strasburg

GIANTS (62-47)
CF Denard Span
3B Eduardo Nunez
1B Brandon Belt
C Buster Posey
SS Brandon Crawford
RF Hunter Pence
2B Joe Panik
LF Gregor Blanco
RHP Matt Cain