Williams on Roark, Werth and Souza (10:50 p.m. start time)

When Nationals manager Matt Williams wrote out the lineup card, he anticipated Jayson Werth could return to right field this evening, but that won't be the case. Werth was scratched from the Nats lineup with lingering soreness in his right shoulder and right ankle. Prior to being scratched, Williams said Werth was receiving treatment from the training staff. "When you get to this time of the season, you've got welts and scratches that can get kind of chronic if you allow it, so you've got to look for days to rest it a little," Williams said. "Good thing is we've got these two and then we have an off-day. Werth has been dealing with shoulder soreness for the last 1 1/2 weeks on top of a right ankle injury. "He had a little bit of a similar thing as Steven (Souza Jr.)," Williams said. "He ran into the wall with his shoulder. He's been playing with it, but it can get cranky every once in a while." Souza is feeling better one day after crashing into the chain-link right field wall. According to Williams, Souza is experiencing soreness in his neck and shoulder, but is available off the bench. roark-red-pitching-short-hair-sidebar.jpgRight-hander Tanner Roark is making his sixth career start against the Braves. Roark is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in his five previous starts. "Regardless of where he's at or who he's pitching against, he's about making his pitches when he needs to make them and throwing the ball where he wants to," Williams said. "I don't think he goes much past that. I think he prepares for that particular day. He has a game plan going in and wants to execute his pitches and he'll go from there. Roark has been one of the Nats' most consistent starters this season and has made an impression on his skipper. "He's got the ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes and use both sides of the plate," Williams said. "I think he reads swings during the course of a game. He'll know if a guy is on a certain pitch and he'll make adjustments accordingly. He feels the game, too. So changing speeds is important for him and to get ahead is important to him, too. I think he does all of those things well." Update: Tonight's game is expected to start at 10:50 p.m.



We're scoreless in Atlanta (Nats win 4-1)
Werth scratched from Nats lineup (with Braves line...
 

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