Game 54 lineups: Nats at Athletics

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Nationals proved they could hit the ball out of the Oakland Coliseum at night, when the air is thick and the temperatures drop. Now they'll see if they can do it under theoretically better conditions this afternoon when they face the A's in the second game of their weekend series and attempt to improve to 5-0 on this road trip.

Actually, the better indicator of whether the Nats will have a big day at the plate might be the fact that Joe Ross is their starting pitcher today. Even though they lost his last start, 5-3, the Nationals are averaging 13 runs of support every time Ross takes the mound for them.

Ross will be pitching with some extra emotion today, facing the favorite team of his childhood, with a bunch of family members and local friends in attendance. He'll need not only to keep his pitch count down early to give himself a chance to go deep into the game, but he'll have to stay on top of his two-seamer, not letting his shoulder drop the way he has in some starts, which has led to diminished velocity and poor command.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Where: Oakland Coliseum
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, XM 178/869, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 65 degrees, wind 11 mph out to center field

NATIONALS (34-19)
SS Trea Turner
DH Jayson Werth
2B Daniel Murphy
1B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Adam Lind
CF Michael A. Taylor
3B Stephen Drew
C Jose Lobaton
RF Brian Goodwin

RHP Joe Ross

ATHLETICS (23-31)
RF Matt Joyce
SS Chad Pinder
2B Jed Lowrie
LF Khris Davis
1B Yonder Alonso
3B Ryon Healy
DH Stephen Vogt
CF Mark Canha
C Josh Phegley

RHP Daniel Mengden