Game 38 lineups: Nats at Cubs (Corbin activated)

Now that the fanfare, hoopla and ovations for Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber's returns to Wrigley Field were taken care of Monday night, it's time to get back to just focusing on baseball.

Of course, I'm not saying that it wasn't an emotional game, as it was great to see the reception the former Cubs received from their previous club and fans. But that 7-3 loss definitely didn't feel warm and fuzzy as the Nationals left the friendly confines late last night.

The Nats now find themselves in sole possession of last place in the National League East and four games back of the first-place Mets. So with three more games against the .500 Cubs and with the rest of the division beating up on each other this week (the Mets are in Atlanta and the Marlins are in Philadelphia), the Nationals once again have a good opportunity to make up some ground in a disappointing division.

Patrick Corbin was activated off the paternity list to make tonight's start after he and his wife, Jen, welcomed their first-born son, Weston Alan Corbin, early Friday morning. Paolo Espino, who was recalled to take Corbin's roster spot last week, was optioned to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move and returned to the taxi squad for the rest of this road trip.

Corbin is 2-3 with a 6.19 ERA on the season, but he's 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA over his last five starts, with the Nationals winning four of those games. This will be Corbin's first start against the Cubs in a Nationals uniform, though during his time with the Diamondbacks, he went 5-2 with a 3.80 ERA in eight games (seven starts) against them and 3-1 with a 5.25 ERA in five games (four starts) at Wrigley Field.

Ryan Zimmerman is back in the starting lineup for the second time in three days, batting third and playing first base. Manager Davey Martinez likes Zimmerman's matchup against Cubs right-hander Zach Davies, who has reverse splits, with righties hitting .355 off him compared to just .231 for lefties.

Davies makes his ninth start for the Cubs tonight. You're probably familiar with him because his name has been involved in a lot of trades over the years. A former Orioles farmhand, he was traded from Baltimore to Milwaukee for - wouldn't you know it? - Gerardo Parra back in 2015. Then he was traded to San Diego in 2019, before being sent to the North Side of Chicago as a part of the Yu Darvish deal in December.

With a career 3.88 ERA in 131 starts, Davies is only 2-2 with a 5.60 ERA so far in his first season with the Cubs. He has had some great success against Washington, though, going 3-0 with a 2.39 ERA in four career starts against the Nats, with 23 strikeouts to just seven walks.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 69 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
RF Juan Soto
1B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Kyle Schwarber
3B Starlin Castro
2B Josh Harrison
C Yan Gomes
LHP Patrick Corbin
CF Victor Robles

CUBS
C Willson Contreras
RF Kris Bryant
1B Anthony Rizzo
SS Javier Báez
LF Matt Duffy
CF Ian Happ
3B David Bote
2B Nico Hoerner
RHP Zach Davies