Game 39 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Remember how we all wondered if Max Scherzer would ever be able to pitch at a Cy Young Award-caliber level again? Well, guess what? He's doing it right now.

The Nationals ace has been nothing short of magnificent so far season, entering tonight's game against the Cubs seventh in the National League in ERA (2.10), third in WHIP (0.760), fourth in walk rate (1.4 per nine innings) and fourth in strikeouts (68). And when he's been good, he's been really, really good: In six of his eight starts, he has allowed zero or one run on five or fewer hits.

So, yeah, Scherzer is still capable of pitching at an elite level, even as his 37th birthday approaches this summer. And the Nats probably need him to keep it up tonight at Wrigley Field, because they sure can't count on providing him a ton of run support.

The Nationals lineup continues to perform at suboptimal levels, aside from the occasional explosion. They've scored exactly three runs in each of their last three games, and they've scored three or fewer in 11 of their last 15 games. It's tough to win like that, and wouldn't you know they're 5-10 over that span.

Manager Davey Martinez's lineup against Jake Arrieta (the 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner) includes all the familiar names, with Trea Turner leading off, ahead of Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber.

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: Mostly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 11 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
LF Kyle Schwarber
3B Starlin Castro
2B Josh Harrison
C Yan Gomes
RHP Max Scherzer
CF Victor Robles

CUBS
LF Joc Pederson
1B Kris Bryant
CF Ian Happ
C Willson Contreras
3B David Bote
RF Jason Heyward
SS Eric Sogard
2B Nico Hoerner
RHP Jake Arrieta