Game 83 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

We begin today with sad news: Longtime Washington, D.C.-based Major League Baseball official scorer David W. Vincent died Sunday evening after a long bout with stomach cancer. The Centreville, Va., resident was 67.

Vincent was a member of the Society of American Baseball Research and a founding secretary of Retrosheet, which works to collect and archive box scores and play-by-play accounts of every major league game. He had scored Nationals games since the team's arrival from Montreal for the 2005 campaign, and also served in that capacity for local amateur and minor league teams, including the Single-A Potomac Nationals. In addition, Vincent had authored or co-authored several books dealing with baseball history.

His special area of interest was the home run, a field of study that earned him the nickname, "The Sultan of Swat Stats." If there was an interesting nugget attached to a longball, chances were it came from Vincent. He kept SABR's home run statistics and was bestowed the organization's highest honor, the Bob Davids Award, in 1999.

"David was near the top of a short list of people who had a profound and lasting impact on SABR, from his service on the board of directors to being the go-to reference for home runs to his Bob Davids Award," SABR president Vince Gennaro said in a tribute on the organization's website. "His impact will live on for many years to come."

Vincent, who worked as a computer systems engineer, continued to be a presence at Nationals Park during treatment through last month, when he last scored a game. He was a tough but fair official scorer and loved nothing more than a day at the ballpark. His knowledge, passion and professionalism will be missed.

Today's game against the Mets is another with a strange start time: 6:05 p.m., to accommodate a postgame fireworks show ahead of Independence Day. Stephen Strasburg starts for the Nationals and he's 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA in two outings versus the Mets this season and 8-4 with a 2.69 ERA in 14 career starts against them.

Of the current Mets, Yoenis Céspedes is 7-for-12 with a double against Strasburg, while Jay Bruce is 8-for-19 with a homer and three RBIs. Travis d'Arnaud is 4-for-13 with a homer and four RBIs and Asdrubal Cabrera is 3-for-12 with two homers and three RBIs.

Mets lefty Steven Matz has pitched well since coming off the disabled list with a left elbow injury, going 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA in four starts, but his loss came against the Nats on June 16. With the Mets' pitching issues, Matz's performance is crucial to New York remaining relevant in the National League East race. He's 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA in three lifestime starts against Washington.

Current Nationals are slashing .216/.245/.471 off Matz. Michael A. Taylor is 3-for-8 with a solo homer against Matz. Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters also have homered off the southpaw.

Shortstop Adrian Sanchez, 26, whose contract was selected on Friday to replace the injured Trea Turner, is making his first big league start, batting eighth.

NEW YORK METS AT WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, XM 184, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 90 degrees, wind 4 mph in from left field

NATIONALS (48-34)
LF Brian Goodwin
CF Michael A. Taylor
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
3B Anthony Rendon
C Matt Wieters
2B Wilmer Difo
SS Adrian Sanchez
RHP Stephen Strasburg

METS (38-43)
SS José Reyes
2B Asdrúbal Cabrera
LF Yoenis Céspedes
RF Jay Bruce
3B T.J. Rivera
1B Lucas Duda
C Travis d'Arnaud
CF Brandon Nimmo
LHP Steven Matz