Game 156 lineups: Nats at Cubs

CHICAGO – It’s been a lovely weekend, weather-wise, here, but that’s not the case today. It’s been raining all morning, and it’s supposed to continue to rain all afternoon. That complicates the scheduled series finale between the Nationals and Cubs

The Nats are off Monday, but the Cubs play in Philadelphia, so they can’t just spend the night here and try again Monday. Chicago was officially eliminated from the National League wild card race Sunday, so technically this game no longer means anything. Major League Baseball doesn’t like to cancel games altogether, but it’s been known to happen when there’s a late-season rainout like this between two teams out of the race, so we’ll have to see how this plays out.

If they play, it’s Jake Irvin on the mound for the Nationals looking to continue his late-season surge. The right-hander has allowed a total of two runs on six hits over 13 1/3 innings his last two outings. He’s got his ERA down to 4.07, and if he gets the chance to make two more starts he could get that number under 4.00 by season’s end.

Shoto Imanaga gets the ball for the Cubs, and the Nats did not see him well when they met last month in D.C. Imanaga, who might win NL Rookie of the Year, allowed three runs on four hits over seven innings, striking out eight. He gave up a homer to Dylan Crews but not much else that evening.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 72 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
DH Andrés Chaparro
C Keibert Ruiz
2B José Tena
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

RHP Jake Irvin

CUBS
LF Ian Happ
SS Dansby Swanson
1B Michael Busch
DH Seiya Suzuki
RF Mike Tauchman
3B Isaac Paredes
CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
C Miguel Amaya
2B Miles Mastrobuoni

RHP Shoto Imanaga