Game 16 lineups: Nats vs. Giants

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

April 17, 2019, 10:44am

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Davey Martinez has stuck with a pretty consistent lineup since opening day. When he's made changes, he's simply plugged in a Matt Adams or a Howie Kendrick or a Kurt Suzuki into the same spot in the batting order as the regular said player is replacing.

Adams white post strikeout.jpg But after struggling to score runs Sunday and again Tuesday night, Martinez is going with a different look. Adams and Kendrick and Suzuki are all in there against Giants right-hander Jeff Samardzija. But the order has changed, with Anthony Rendon bumped up to the No. 2 spot and Juan Soto to the No. 3 spot, ahead of Adams and Kendrick. We'll see if that helps jumpstart things tonight.

The Nationals also will look for another strong start out of Jeremy Hellickson, only his second of the season and third overall appearance of 2019. Hellickson was very good in his previous start at Philadelphia (six scoreless innings on 100 pitches) and he'll look to continue that trend and hold down a San Francisco club that surprisingly scored seven runs in the series opener.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 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: Mostly cloudy, 64 degrees, wind 11 mph in from right field

NATIONALS (7-8)
RF Adam Eaton
3B Anthony Rendon
LF Juan Soto
1B Matt Adams
2B Howie Kendrick
C Kurt Suzuki
SS Wilmer Difo
RHP Jeremy Hellickson
CF Victor Robles

GIANTS (8-10)
RF Steven Duggar
2B Joe Panik
C Buster Posey
1B Brandon Belt
SS Brandon Crawford
3B Evan Longoria
CF Kevin Pillar
LF Gerardo Parra
RHP Jeff Samardzija