Game 56 lineups: Nats at Phillies

We've been wondering for days now who would be starting the Nationals' series finale in Philadelphia, taking Stephen Strasburg's spot in the rotation. Well, we finally have our answer. Today's starter will be ... Austin Voth.

Manager Davey Martinez came to that decision based on the fact Voth has been a starter his whole career up until this season, and he's had four days off since his last appearance (50 pitches in relief of Strasburg). It's certainly the most logical choice among the candidates, the plan going in for Voth to pitch about three innings and then hand it over to someone else.

The Nats are going to need a lot of quality innings from a lot of relievers this afternoon, but everyone from the bullpen should be available, especially with the team off Monday. It'll be interesting to see how Martinez manages this game.

Of course, it doesn't matter how well the Nationals pitch today if they don't hit. Just when it looked like this lineup might have been breaking through at last, it has been shut down again over the last three days, totaling five runs on 14 hits. That's just not going to get the job done.

One of the club's recently struggling hitters, Josh Harrison, is getting the day off. So it'll be Jordy Mercer at second base. And Yan Gomes is out for the fourth straight day with a tight hamstring, though Martinez is hopeful he'll be ready to go Tuesday night against the Rays. Alex Avila will be making his fourth straight start behind the plate in Gomes' absence.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 92 degrees, wind 6 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
LF Kyle Schwarber
3B Starlin Castro
C Alex Avila
2B Jordy Mercer
CF Victor Robles
RHP Austin Voth

PHILLIES
CF Odúbel Herrera
C J.T. Realmuto
RF Bryce Harper
1B Rhys Hoskins
LF Andrew McCutchen
2B Brad Miller
3B Alec Bohm
SS Ronald Torreyes
RHP Vince Velasquez