Game 145 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

Last night was a stinker, plain and simple, for the Nationals. They looked pretty lifeless during an 8-0 loss to the Braves. Afterward, they all insisted there was nothing to read into it, it was just a bad game and not a reflection of a team suffering from a letdown after Sunday's clincher.

We'll find out tonight if that's true, or if it really is tough to get yourself hyped up again when you've already clinched and still have three weeks of the regular season to go. It doesn't hurt to have the potential Cy Young Award winner on the mound, of course.

Max Scherzer will be looking to bolster his case against a Braves lineup that actually has roughed him up just a bit the last two times they've squared off. Atlanta got him for three runs (via two homers) in five laborious innings on May 20 at SunTrust Park, then got him for four runs in 7 2/3 innings on July 7 at Nationals Park.

The Braves, meanwhile, send left-hander Luiz Gohara to the mound for only the second time in his major league career. The 21-year-old Brazilian burst through the minors this season, beginning at Single-A and now reaching the big leagues in September, so he's going to be more than a bit of an unknown. We'll see how he handles a veteran Nationals lineup.

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, XM 186/869, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

NATIONALS (88-56)
SS Trea Turner
2B Wilmer Difo
3B Anthony Rendon
1B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Howie Kendrick
CF Michael A. Taylor
RF Jayson Werth
C Matt Wieters
RHP Max Scherzer

BRAVES (65-78)
2B Ozzie Albies
SS Dansby Swanson
1B Freddie Freeman
LF Matt Kemp
RF Nick Markakis
C Tyler Flowers
3B Rio Ruiz
CF Lane Adams
LHP Luiz Gohara