TORONTO - It's a glorious Father's Day here in Canada (and, yes, they celebrate it here, too) but it hasn't been a glorious road trip for the Nationals, who have gone 1-3 so far against the Yankees and Blue Jays and have been shut out twice. They'll need to bounce back this afternoon if they want to avoid a weekend sweep at the hands of a sub-.500 opponent.
Tanner Roark gets the ball today, and he opened this trip with a quality start at Yankee Stadium, only to be on the wrong end of a 3-0 loss. So while it's important for the right-hander to pitch well this afternoon, it's more important for the floundering Nationals lineup to actually, you know, score some runs for once.
They'll attempt to do that with Bryce Harper serving as DH today, perhaps allowing him to focus solely on hitting and not defense. Adam Eaton gets the day off, with Brian Goodwin getting a rare start in right field. Daniel Murphy is again at first base, with Matt Adams nursing an injured left index finger.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 1:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field
NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
DH Bryce Harper
3B Anthony Rendon
1B Daniel Murphy
LF Juan Soto
CF Michael A. Taylor
RF Brian Goodwin
2B Wilmer Difo
C Spencer Kieboom
RHP Tanner Roark
BLUE JAYS
DH Curtis Granderson
LF Teoscar Hernández
3B Yangervis Solarte
1B Kendrys Morales
CF Kevin Pillar
C Russell Martin
RF Randal Grichuk
SS Aledmys DÃaz
2B Devon Travis
RHP Sam Gaviglio
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