Game 26 lineups: Nats at Royals

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

May 03, 2016, 12:33pm

Comments

KANSAS CITY - Road interleague games present teams with the DH dilemma: Who to use, whether to pull a guy off the bench or whether to give one of your regulars a semi day-off by not playing the field.

Last night, Dusty Baker went with a bench guy, Stephen Drew. Tonight, he'll go with a regular, Jayson Werth. (The tentative plan for tomorrow is to use Ryan Zimmerman.) Werth has been hitting the ball harder of late; perhaps a chance to focus solely on offense for one night will help get him going for good.

Wilson Ramos gear throw white.png

Wilson Ramos, meanwhile, officially makes his return to the lineup after seven games out following the death of his grandfather. Ramos has been with the club the last two days, but Baker wanted to give him a chance to get back into baseball mode before playing again.

Tonight's pitching matchup: Tanner Roark (who was brilliant in his last start) and Chris Young (who helped resurrect his career by pitching in spring training with the Nationals a couple years ago)...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
Gametime: 8:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, XM 869, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 68 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

NATIONALS (18-7)
CF Michael A. Taylor
3B Anthon Rendon
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Daniel Murphy
DH Jayson Werth
C Wilson Ramos
SS Danny Espinosa
LF Chris Heisey
(RHP Tanner Roark)

ROYALS (13-12)
SS Alcides Escobar
CF Lorenzo Cain
1B Eric Hosmer
DH Kendrys Morales
LF Alex Gordon
C Salvador Perez
2B Omar Infante
3B Christian Colon
RF Jarrod Dyson
(RHP Chris Young)