Game 140 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

September 05, 2018, 11:27am

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Can the Nationals play well enough tonight to take a three-game series from the Cardinals? Can Tanner Roark continue his second-half surge? Can the lineup continue to produce, right down to the bottom of the ninth? Shoot, can they simply play a nine-inning game in fewer than 3 1/2 hours?

We'll find all of that out when the Nats wrap up their series with St. Louis with Roark on the mound. The right-hander took a bit of a step back in his last start, allowing three homers to the Brewers. But overall, he continues to pitch on an upward track since the All-Star break. And he pitched well against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium last month, allowing three earned runs over six innings to earn the win in that series finale.

The Nationals lineup remains the same as it's been in recent days, so no rest for Bryce Harper, Juan Soto or Ryan Zimmerman. Matt Wieters does remain on the bench - he certainly didn't look good running down the first base line in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night - so it's Pedro Severino behind the plate for the third straight day.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 88 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
RF Adam Eaton
SS Trea Turner
CF Bryce Harper
3B Anthony Rendon
LF Juan Soto
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Wilmer Difo
C Pedro Severino
RHP Tanner Roark

CARDINALS
3B Matt Carpenter
RF JosÃ© MartÃnez
1B Matt Adams
LF Marcell Ozuna
SS Paul DeJong
C Yadier Molina
CF Harrison Bader
2B Yairo MuÃ±oz
RHP Miles Mikolas