Werth on his ankle and availability

By Pete Kerzel

Nationals

July 29, 2014, 2:16pm

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Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth thinks his sprained right ankle is a "minor" injury and hopes he'll be available off the bench tonight.

Werth hurt the ankle in the seventh inning of last night's game, and is out of tonight's starting lineup. He had hoped the ankle would feel better this morning, but that wasn't the case.

Instead, Werth said, it was "sore, sore and swollen."

"It was a lot sorer than I thought it was going to be," he told reporters in Miami this afternoon. "That's why I said last night we'll know more in the morning. I wasn't expecting it to be as swollen and as sore. That's probably why I'm not playing. If it wasn't as bad, I'd probably be playing."

But that doesn't mean Werth won't try to make himself available if manager Matt Williams needs him tonight.

"I'm going to try to get it going and hopefully get to a point where I'll be available for the game," he said. "He's going to give me a day. I probably need it right now, but we'll see. Hopefully, by the time the game starts, I'll be moving around pretty good and I'll tape it up. If he needs me, I'll be available."