Game 154 lineups: Nats at Cubs

CHICAGO – When last we saw Trevor Williams on a big league mound, he was tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to beat the Braves and improve to 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP. It was May 30, and the veteran right-hander looked like one of the best comeback stories of the season.

And then Williams reported a sore elbow and landed on the injured list. Nearly four months later, he’s finally returning to the mound this afternoon, activated off the IL and ready to make two final starts to a season that was severely interrupted.

What can we reasonably expect from Williams today against the Cubs? Who knows? He’ll almost certainly be limited to five innings and 80 pitches, give or take. If he can recapture his early season form, he’ll keep the ball down in the zone, induce weak contact and put the Nats in position to win. Whether he can do all that remains to be seen.

The Nationals would love to supply Williams with the kind of run support they supplied Patrick Corbin on Thursday night (even if it came in a 7-6 loss). They’ll face right-hander Jameson Taillon, who did not pitch when the two teams met in D.C. last month but has enjoyed a solid season (10-8, 3.54 ERA, 1.162 WHIP in 26 starts) and has strung together three straight quality starts entering this one.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
CF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
1B Andrés Chaparro
3B José Tena
DH Keibert Ruiz
RF Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas
2B Darren Baker

RHP Trevor Williams

CUBS
LF Ian Happ
SS Dansby Swanson
RF Cody Bellinger
DH Seiya Suzuki
1B Michael Busch
2B Nico Hoerner
CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
3B Patrick Wisdom
C Christian Bethancourt

RHP Jameson Taillon