Leon to make major league debut vs. Padres

Leon to make major league debut vs. Padres
Sandy Leon will make his major league debut tonight as the Nationals host the Padres in the first game of a brief two-game series. He'll catch and hit eighth. Weather permitting, the game begins at 7:05 p.m. Here's the Padres lineup: CF Cameron Maybin RF Chris Denorfia LF Jesus Guzman 1B Yonder Alonso 3B Chase Headley C Nick Hundley 2B Orlando Hudson SS Jason Bartlett P Tim Stauffer Here's the Nationals lineup: SS Ian Desmond LF Roger Bernadina 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche RF Bryce...
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Sunday's Nats-Reds lineups (first pitch set for 4:45 p.m.)

Sunday's Nats-Reds lineups (first pitch set for 4:45 p.m.)
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Davey Johnson is sticking with the same lineup he's gone with the last few games, with Roger Bernadina hitting second and Bryce Harper hitting fifth. With Wilson Ramos going on the DL with a torn ACL, Jesus Flores slides into the starting lineup and will hit eighth. The Nationals will face Reds righty Bronson Arroyo, who is 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA this season. Here are the lineups for both teams: Nationals SS Ian Desmond LF Roger Bernadina 3B Ryan...
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Harper in Nats lineup

Harper in Nats lineup
A day after accidentally hitting himself in the face with a bat and opening a cut over his left eye, Bryce Harper is in the Nationals' starting lineup. Tough kid. Manager Davey Johnson had suggested that Harper might need a couple days off after the bizarre wall-meet-bat, bat-meet-face incident yesterday, but the 19-year-old will be back in right field tonight, hopefully sans blood dripping down his face. The Nationals will face Reds righty Mat Latos, who allowed two runs and five hits over...
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Friday's Nats, Reds lineups

Friday's Nats, Reds lineups
How does Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips welcome the Nationals to town? By taking a dig at Bryce Harper on Twitter. Here's what Phillips tweeted earlier today: "GoodAfternoon #Cincinnati... Today we host #BabeRuth & the @Nationals for a 3 game series at #GABP! See y'all there" That's the second "Babe Ruth" reference we've heard in the last week. An unnamed Phillies player apparently made a similar comment referring to Harper during last weekend's series at Nationals Park. (I'm...
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Bernadina hitting second, Espinosa hitting sixth

Bernadina hitting second, Espinosa hitting sixth
Davey Johnson has made a couple lineup changes, all right. The Nationals' skipper has tweaked his batting order for tonight's series finale against the Pirates, putting Roger Bernadina in the No. 2 spot and dropping Bryce Harper to fifth. Danny Espinosa will start at second base tonight and will protect Harper in the order, hitting sixth. This is now the fourth spot in the lineup that Harper has at-bats. He's previously hit seventh, third and second. Here are the lineups for both...
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Moore to start in left field, Harper to center

Moore to start in left field, Harper to center
Those wanting Tyler Moore to get a shot at more playing time, here you go. Moore will start in left field and hit seventh for the Nationals in tonight's game against the Pirates. It will be the rookie's second major league start, both of which will have been in left. With the Nats facing a left-hander in Erik Bedard, Davey Johnson is going with a lineup stacked with right-handed hitters. He'll put Moore in left and Xavier Nady in right field, with Bryce Harper moving over to center and...
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Nats lineup remains the same in series finale

Nats lineup remains the same in series finale
As promised, Davey Johnson's lineup for Sunday night's game against the Phillies is exactly the same (minus a different starting pitcher) as the one he put up for yesterday afternoon's contest in which the Nationals pounded out 15 hits. If it ain't broke, don't ... Here's how things will look for the Nats tonight: SS Ian Desmond 3B Steve Lombardozzi LF Bryce Harper RF Jayson Werth 1B Chad Tracy 2B Danny Espinosa CF Rick Ankiel C Wilson Ramos P Jordan Zimmermann
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LaRoche scratched with right oblique soreness

LaRoche scratched with right oblique soreness
The Nationals' most consistent hitter, the one who leads the team in home runs, RBIs and batting average (with a minimum 20 at-bats), has been scratched from tonight's lineup. Just what this offense needed. First baseman Adam LaRoche will not start tonight due to right oblique soreness, leaving an even bigger hole in the middle of the Nats' lineup. Jayson Werth will move up to the No. 4 spot in the order, and Chad Tracy will now play first base and hit fifth. LaRoche enters today hitting...
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Bryce Harper bumped up to third in Nats' order

Bryce Harper bumped up to third in Nats' order
After Bryce Harper went 3-for-4 with two doubles last night, manager Davey Johnson suggested that Harper might be deserving of a bump in the order. Harper got quite a bump, alright. The 19-year-old will hit third tonight against the Diamondbacks, this after hitting seventh in each of the first four games of his major league career. Harper is batting .385 with five hits in 13 at-bats thus far in his big league tenure. Three of his five hits have been for extra bases. Here are the Nationals'...
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Harper in center, Nady in left, Werth hitting third

Harper in center, Nady in left, Werth hitting third
With the Nationals facing another left-handed starter tonight, Rick Ankiel will take a seat and Bryce Harper will get the start in center field for manager Davey Johnson. This will be Harper's second time playing center in his four major league games. Jayson Werth will hit in the No. 3 hole today, with Xavier Nady playing in left and hitting fifth. Tyler Moore again will come off the bench. Joe Saunders will take the mound for the Diamondbacks, looking to improve on his 2-1 record and 0.90...
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Harper back in left, hitting seventh

Harper back in left, hitting seventh
I tried posting the lineups from my iPhone a couple of hours ago, but apparently that failed miserably. So let's try this again. Bryce Harper is hitting seventh again today, and he's back in left field with Rick Ankiel playing center against Diamondbacks right-hander Trevor Cahill. Ankiel will hit third today, and Jayson Werth is back in the lineup hitting fifth after missing Sunday's game because of a migraine. Nationals SS Ian Desmond 3B Steve Lombardozzi CF Rick Ankiel 1B Adam...
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Bryce Harper playing center field today

Bryce Harper playing center field today
With the Nationals facing a left-hander today in the Dodgers' Chris Capuano, Rick Ankiel will get the day off and Bryce Harper will play center field. Harper played left field in his major league debut yesterday, and is likely to get the bulk of his playing time at the big league level (at least, for now) in left. Against lefties, however, manager Davey Johnson will continue to sit Ankiel, and today, Harper will take over the Nats' center field duties. Tyler Moore has not yet officially...
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As promised, Harper hitting seventh in his debut

As promised, Harper hitting seventh in his debut
I'm not going to lie, it was a little strange typing Bryce Harper into the lineup that you see below. I'm still not used to the 19-year-old phenom being in the Nationals' batting order, and I'm probably not the only one. Harper will bat seventh and play left field in his major league debut tonight, and he'll take his hacks off Dodgers righty Chad Billingsley, who is 2-0 with a 3.04 ERA so far this season. The Nationals will send Stephen Strasburg to the hill, as he looks to notch his...
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Lombardozzi hitting second, Espinosa hitting sixth

Lombardozzi hitting second, Espinosa hitting sixth
Before we dive even deeper into Bryce Harper cracking the Nationals lineup tomorrow, let's look at the Nats lineup today. There's an interesting twist to manager Davey Johnson's lineup against the Dodgers: He's dropped second baseman Danny Espinosa to sixth in the order and has Steve Lombardozzi playing third base and hitting in the No. 2 spot tonight. Johnson has said he likes slotting Espinosa into the two hole in his lineup because he likes having run-producers towards the top of the...
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Nats lineup in series finale against Padres (updated)

Nats lineup in series finale against Padres (updated)
The Nationals have already locked up their sixth straight series win to start the 2012 season, but they'll look for their first sweep of three games or more when they take the field against the Padres tonight. Washington will face Padres right-hander Edinson Volquez, who has started the season with an 0-2 record and a 4.30 ERA. Chad Tracy will play third base tonight, as Ryan Zimmerman is still not in the lineup as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Here's manager Davey Johnson's lineup...
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Tracy gets the start at first base

Tracy gets the start at first base
As promised, Chad Tracy is in the Nationals lineup for this afternoon's game against the Marlins. And he's hitting cleanup. Raise your hand if you ever thought you'd see a Nationals lineup that had Chad Tracy in the four-hole. Tracy spells another left-handed first baseman, Adam LaRoche, who will get his first day off of the season. Here are your Nationals and Marlins lineups as Washington looks to lock up another series win: Nats SS Ian Desmond 2B Danny Espinosa 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B...
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Desmond gets a day off, Lombardozzi to hit leadoff

Desmond gets a day off, Lombardozzi to hit leadoff
Ian Desmond has gotten off to a nice start this season, hitting .300 with a homer, four RBIs and a .333 on-base percentage. Tonight, the Nationals' starting shortstop will get his first day off of the 2012 campaign. Steve Lombardozzi will play shortstop and hit leadoff for Davey Johnson's Nats tonight as they look for the sweep against Bud Norris and the Astros. If they can pick up another win tonight, the Nats would earn their first four-game home sweep since arriving in D.C. in 2005....
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Today's Nats, Astros lineups

Today's Nats, Astros lineups
As promised, both Mark DeRosa and Xavier Nady are in manager Davey Johnson's lineup today, as the Nationals will load up with right-handed hitters against Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez. Interestingly, DeRosa is in right today with Nady in left. This will be DeRosa's first action in right field this season. Wilson Ramos also gets a day off today, as Jesus Flores is behind the plate to catch Gio Gonzalez. Here are today's lineups: Nationals SS Ian Desmond 2B Danny Espinosa 3B Ryan...
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Today's lineups plus a few fun facts

Today's lineups plus a few fun facts
With a win today, the Nationals would record their first four-game home sweep since their arrival in Washington in 2005. Is it possible for that note to both surprise me and not surprise me in the slightest? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, with yesterday's win, Edwin Jackson became the first player in modern baseball history (since 1901) to record at least one win in a starting role for at least seven different teams prior to his 29th birthday. Is it possible for that note to both...
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Nats' lineup has Ankiel in center, hitting seventh

Nats' lineup has Ankiel in center, hitting seventh
Rick Ankiel will make his 2012 debut this afternoon against the Reds after missing the first eight games of the season due to a left quad injury. The 32-year-old will bat seventh today and play center field after hitting .400 with three home runs during his rehab assignment. Ankiel said the quad is feeling good and he's ready to get back out and rejoin his teammates at the major league level. "The last few days, the first time I played nine, I felt like I was 100 percent then, so every day...
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