Game 86 lineups: Nats at Padres

We talked about the daunting two-week stretch the Nationals were going to face heading into the All-Star break, with 14 games in 14 days against five contenders. Well, 10 games in they've managed to go 5-5 despite a swath of injuries and a four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers last weekend. And tonight they have a chance to win three of four on the road from the Padres. That's not bad at all.

It's a premier pitching matchup for the series finale at Petco Park, with All-Star Yu Darvish going up against not-All-Star Max Scherzer. Not that a three-time Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer needs any added motivation, but do you suppose Scherzer is especially keen on winning this showdown tonight?

Scherzer is working with an extra day of rest, which could come into play as the night progresses. Last time out, he wasn't comfortable taking the mound for the seventh inning with his pitch count right at 100. With extra rest and the All-Star break looming, you have to wonder if Scherzer might be geared up to extend himself more tonight.

Darvish, of course, is no picnic to face, so the Nationals have a tough challenge ahead of them. It's the same lineup, though, that whacked out 15 runs on 17 hits Wednesday night and has totaled 26 runs through the first three games of the series. This batting order has looked pretty impressive against a good Padres team. Let's see if it can finish the job on a high note tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 9:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 72 degrees, wind 7 mph out to right field

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

PADRES
LF Tommy Pham
SS Fernando Tatis Jr.
2B Jake Cronenworth
3B Manny Machado
CF Trent Grisham
1B Eric Hosmer
RF Wil Myers
C Victor Caratini
RHP Yu Darvish