Game 55 lineups: Nats at Phillies

The Nationals managed to turn two runs and six hits into a win Friday night. They did so thanks to Max Scherzer's dominance over 7 2/3 innings, then Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand's relief work after that. In order to win today in Philadelphia, they're either going to need a comparable effort from Joe Ross and any relievers who follow him or a much more complete offensive showing.

A more complete offensive showing would be nice, especially against Phillies right-hander Spencer Howard, who enters with a 5.80 ERA and 1.626 WHIP over 35 2/3 career big league innings. The 24-year-old has one major league win, and it happened to come last summer against the Nats. (Go figure.) The Phillies have been very careful with Howard's workload. He has thrown more than 81 pitches only once in the big leagues, again in that one start last summer against the Nats. (Go figure.)

Today's lineup includes Kyle Schwarber in left field, suggesting his right knee feels well enough to start, though perhaps Davey Martinez will feel the need to replace him in the field with Andrew Stevenson later in the game if necessary. It also includes Alex Avila, who makes his third straight start behind the plate. Yan Gomes, who started five straight days prior to this stretch, appears still to be suffering from a tight hamstring.

Avila will be working with Ross, and if he (or anyone else) can say with certainty what they expect from the right-hander today, more power to them. It's been impossible to predict what Ross is going to provide in his starts. Sometimes, he's looked great. Sometimes, he's looked awful. Sometimes, he's looked both great and awful within the same start, as was the case earlier this week in Atlanta.

Ross is facing a Phillies lineup that has Bryce Harper back in the No. 3 spot. Harper was just activated off the 10-day injured list, having been sidelined with a forearm contusion. He had been tearing the cover off the ball, but then plummeted prior to going on the IL, going 2 for his last 25 with one walk and 13 strikeouts over his last seven games.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 91 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
2B Josh Harrison
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
LF Kyle Schwarber
3B Starlin Castro
C Alex Avila
CF Victor Robles
RHP Joe Ross

PHILLIES
CF Odúbel Herrera
2B Jean Segura
RF Bryce Harper
1B Rhys Hoskins
C J.T. Realmuto
LF Andrew McCutchen
3B Alec Bohm
SS Nick Maton
RHP Spencer Howard