Game 77 lineups: Nats vs. Rays

It's a rare thing when a ballclub plays three different opponents on three consecutive days, but that's the case for the Nationals tonight. After wrapping up their weekend series with the Marlins on Sunday, then facing the Mets in a one-off makeup game Monday, tonight they welcome the Rays to town for the first of two games in an interleague series.

These two teams split a series at Tropicana Field a couple weeks ago, but things have changed a bit since then. The Nationals have gotten red hot, winning 12 of their last 15. And the Rays promoted the No. 1 prospect in the sport, Wander Franco, who tonight will be starting at shortstop and batting third.

Joe Ross has the assignment tonight for the Nats, and he's coming off a fantastic start in Miami in which he tossed seven scoreless innings. This is a stiffer test against Tampa Bay's lineup, but as we've seen all year with Ross, you never really know what you're going to get every fifth day.

Rich Hill, the 41-year-old left-hander who just keeps pitching, gets the start for the Rays. Hill has enjoyed quite the second act: From age 25-34, he owned a 4.72 ERA and 1.393 WHIP in 197 games (only 70 of them starts). But since then, he's got a 3.00 ERA and 1.066 WHIP in 110 games (all but one of them starts).

The Nationals made two roster moves this afternoon, both affecting the bullpen: Tanner Rainey was placed on the 10-day injured list with a stress reaction in his right tibia, and Justin Miller was designated for assignment after his ragged appearance Monday night against the Mets. Taking their spots will be right-hander Ryne Harper and left-hander Kyle Lobstein, both promoted from Triple-A Rochester, the latter added to the 40-man roster as well. More details to come on all of those moves later, but suffice it to say the state of the bullpen is not great right now.

TAMPA BAY RAYS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 92 degrees, wind 10 mph out to left field

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

RAYS
2B Brandon Lowe
1B Ji-Man Choi
SS Wander Franco
LF Austin Meadows
3B Joey Wendle
CF Kevin Kiermaier
C Mike Zunino
RF Brett Phillips
LHP Rich Hill