Game 133 lineups: Nats at Mets

NEW YORK – It may never feel totally normal to see Max Scherzer pitching for the Mets against the Nationals, but we’ve probably reached a point now where it doesn’t feel quite as surreal as it did earlier this year. Tonight, Scherzer makes his third start of the season for his new team against his old team, and he’s shooting for a milestone: 200 career wins.

In days of yore, 200 wins was a nice achievement but hardly anything spectacular. These days, it’s quite rare. Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke are the only active pitchers to get there. So whenever Scherzer does it – whether it’s tonight or in the future – it is a significant event.

Davey Martinez is trying to put together a lineup that gives his team its best chance of scoring runs against Scherzer. With Nelson Cruz out after fouling a ball off his right knee in Friday night’s loss, there’s a different look to his starting nine tonight. Lane Thomas will lead off, with Luis García batting second. Joey Meneses starts at first base, with Luke Voit serving as DH in Cruz’s absence.

And then there’s this: César Hernández is starting in left field. Yes, left field. It’s the first time the veteran infielder has played any outfield position since 2013, when he was a rookie with the Phillies. And all 22 games he played that season came in center field. So this is the first time he’s ever played left field in a major league game.

We’ll see if the unusual defensive alignment causes any trouble for Patrick Corbin, who will try to shut down the Mets lineup the way he did the Padres (two runs in 5 1/3 innings) and Reds (one earned run in six innings) his last two starts. Corbin already is the first pitcher in Nationals history to lose 17 games. He’s now trying not to become the majors’ first 18-game loser since Chris Archer and James Shields each lost 19 in 2016.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 11 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
CF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
1B Joey Meneses
DH Luke Voit
C Keibert Ruiz
LF César Hernández
RF Josh Palacios
3B Ildemaro Vargas
SS CJ Abrams

LHP Patrick Corbin

METS
CF Brandon Nimmo
RF Starkling Marte
SS Francisco Lindor
DH Pete Alonso
RLF Mark Canha
1B Darin Ruf
2B Jeff McNeil
3B Eduardo Escobar
C James McCann

RHP Max Scherzer