Game 105 lineups: Nats at Giants

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

July 31, 2016, 9:05am

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SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals have an opportunity to take three of four from the Giants, which would be no small accomplishment given the difficulty of doing that on the west coast against another first-place club, not to mention given the current state of their bullpen.

The good news: Mark Melancon is here and will be in uniform for today's series finale, available to pitch the ninth inning should the Nationals need him. The big questions facing Dusty Baker now are who gets the seventh and eighth innings setting up Melancon, and whether or not Jonathan Papelbon is part of that equation.

Melancon joins the roster as Reynaldo Lopez leaves it. The club optioned the young right-hander back to Triple-A Syracuse following his four-inning start yesterday. The team won't need a fifth starter again until August 16, so they can go with an eight-man bullpen in the meantime.

Daniel Murphy is out of the lineup for the second straight day with tightness in his left leg. Jayson Werth also gets a day off.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, XM 189/869, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 64 degrees, wind 10 mph out to center field

NATIONALS (61-43)
2B Trea Turner
CF Ben Revere
RF Bryce Harper
C Wilson Ramos
3B Anthony Rendon
1B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Chris Heisey
SS Danny Espinosa
LHP Gio Gonzalez

GIANTS (60-44)
SS Eduardo Nunez
CF Angel Pagan
RF Hunter Pence
C Buster Posey
LF Mac Williamson
1B Brandon Belt
2B Joe Panik
3B Conor Gillaspie
RHP Matt Cain