Game 162 lineups: Nats vs. Red Sox

Well, here we are. It's Game 162, the end of a long and winding and eventful but ultimately disappointing baseball season in the nation's capital. If someone told you on opening day everything that would transpire over the ensuing six months, would you have believed it? Probably not.

There is, however, meaningful baseball to be played today on South Capitol Street. Perhaps not so meaningful for the Nationals, but critical to the Red Sox, who enter the day tied with the Yankees atop the American League wild card standings at 91-70, one game ahead of the Mariners and Blue Jays. There are all kinds of scenarios that could play out today, some of them requiring tiebreaker games Monday, some of them requiring more tiebreaker games Tuesday. But the bottom line for our purposes is this: If the Red Sox win, they clinch a berth in the wild card game.

And who will the Nationals be sending to the mound for this oh-so-important game? That would be Joan Adon, a 23-year-old right-hander making his major league debut. Adon has been highly thought of within the organization since he was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2016, but this is a pretty big leap for him. He made 17 starts at Single-A Wilmington this season, then three starts at Double-A Harrisburg, then one at Triple-A Rochester (in which he tossed four scoreless innings and struck out seven).

It's a huge opportunity for Adon, and he'll have a veteran catcher working with him. Alex Avila gets the start behind the plate in the final game of his career. That makes for some kind of interesting battery. (Luis García, by the way, was placed on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain to clear a roster spot for Adon.)

And, of course, Ryan Zimmerman is starting at first base. We don't know - and if you take him at his word, he doesn't know - if this is his final game. There are reasons to believe it's not. But just in case, you can be sure the fans here will be cheering every move he makes.

BOSTON RED SOX at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 3:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
CF Lane Thomas
SS Alcides Escobar
RF Juan Soto
LF Josh Bell
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Jordy Mercer
C Alex Avila
3B Carter Kieboom
RHP Joan Adon

RED SOX
2B Enrique Hernandez
1B Kyle Schwarber
SS Xander Bogaerts
3B Rafael Devers
RF J.D. Martinez
LF Alex Verdugo
CF Hunter Renfroe
C Christian Vazquez
LHP Chris Sale