Game 70 lineups: Nats at Phillies

An 8-3 homestand, capped with a strong and often thrilling weekend against the Mets, was a great first step for the Nationals to get themselves back into the mix in the National League East. A good road trip this week against two more division opponents would go a long way toward making this surge truly legitimate.

It begins tonight in Philadelphia in the opener of a quick, two-game series against the Phillies. And it begins with the ace back on the mound. Yes, as he promised over the weekend, Max Scherzer is back from a minor groin strain. He was activated off the 10-day injured list this afternoon and he's good to go, with no restrictions, tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

To make room for Scherzer on the active roster, the Nats placed reliever Kyle Finnegan on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain. That's an unexpected transaction, with no previous reason to notice Finnegan wasn't healthy. He pitched the top of the seventh Sunday afternoon against the Mets in relief of Patrick Corbin and looked good, recording three outs on only five pitches. Hopefully, manager Davey Martinez can shed some light on what happened.

The lineup is the new standard lineup, which means Kyle Schwarber is still leading off. (You didn't really think that was about to change, did you?) This group has its work cut out for it tonight against Zack Wheeler, who enters with a 2.15 ERA and 0.934 WHIP over a league-leading 96 1/3 innings. He's already faced the Nationals twice this season and each time limited them to two runs over six or more innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain ending, 65 degrees, wind 8 mph in from left field

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

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