Game 94 lineups: Nats at Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Did you know the Nationals haven't lost a baseball game in 11 days? OK, so that's a bit misleading when you consider four of those days included the All-Star break. Nevertheless, the Nats will carry a six-game winning streak into tonight's contest against the Angels, seeking to sweep this abbreviated, two-game interleague series.

They'll attempt to do so without Bryce Harper in the lineup. As both the right fielder and Dusty Baker explained last night, they collectively decided in advance he'd get tonight off, joining fellow All-Stars Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy in getting one mental and physical day off during this first stretch coming out of the break.

The Nationals lineup still has plenty of thunder sans Harper, and that group will be looking to take down one of the organization's former first-round picks: Alex Meyer. The 6-foot-9 right-hander, the 23rd overall pick of the 2011 draft, was dealt from Washington to Minnesota in November 2012 for Denard Span, a trade that worked out just fine for the Nats. Meyer, on the other hand, has never developed as expected, dealt by the Twins to the Angels last year and now the owner of a 4.99 ERA in 21 career big league games.

Gio Gonzalez gets the nod for the Nats, looking to continue his winning ways against an Angels lineup noted for its big right-handed bats. We'll see how Baker uses his bullpen tonight after both Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle debuted Tuesday. The fact the Nationals are off tomorrow before a weekend series in Arizona might afford Baker the luxury of pitching one or both again tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Where: Angel Stadium
Gametime: 10:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, ESPN (outside D.C. and L.A. markets), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, XM 176/869, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

NATIONALS (57-36)
CF Brian Goodwin
LF Ryan Raburn
2B Daniel Murphy
1B Ryan Zimmerman
DH Adam Lind
3B Anthony Rendon
C Matt Wieters
SS Stephen Drew
RF Chris Heisey

LHP Gio Gonzalez

ANGELS (46-50)
3B Yunel Escobar
CF Mike Trout
DH Albert Pujols
1B C.J. Cron
SS Andrelton Simmons
C Martín Maldonado
RF Shane Robinson
2B Cliff Pennington
LF Ben Revere

RHP Alex Meyer