Game 118 lineups: Nats at Cubs

CHICAGO - We've seen no shortage of wacky and wild stuff this summer from a Nationals team that seems to vacillate from contender to pretender on a daily basis. So who knows which version we'll see tonight on Sunday Night Baseball. But we do know we're going to see a marquee matchup: Max Scherzer vs. Cole Hamels.

Yes, it's Cy Young Award vs. World Series MVP winner, with the fate of this weekend series at stake. Scherzer is trying to make a case for his third straight (and fourth overall) end-of-season award. Hamels isn't in the running for any of that, but the Cubs acquired him late last month to try to help lead them back to October glory, and so far he's been brilliant (2-0, 0.82 ERA).

Several members of the Nationals lineup have no shortage of history against Hamels. Ryan Zimmerman is 22-for-84 with three homers. Daniel Murphy is 17-for-53 with one homer. Bryce Harper is 8-for-31 with one very memorable plunking (and subsequent stealing of home), also on Sunday Night Baseball. Anthony Rendon is 4-for-18, but he's not playing tonight, apparently still bothered by a bruised left wrist.

And several Cubs have faced Scherzer a good number of times over the years. Ben Zobrist is 7-for-29 with three homers. Anthony Rizzo is 3-for-14 with a homer. Jason Heyward is 4-for-13.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 8:05 p.m. EDT
TV: ESPN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 79 degrees, wind 6 mph in from center field

NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
LF Juan Soto
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Daniel Murphy
3B Mark Reynolds
CF Michael A. Taylor
C Matt Wieters
RHP Max Scherzer

CUBS
1B Anthony Rizzo
3B Javy Báez
2B Ben Zobrist
RF Jason Heyward
CF Albert Almora Jr.
LF Kyle Schwarber
C Willson Contreras
LHP Cole Hamels
SS Addison Russell