Game 96 lineups: Nats at Diamondbacks

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

July 22, 2017, 12:47pm

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PHOENIX - Good afternoon from Chase Field, where after last night's wild 6-5 loss, the Nationals return to action and attempt to beat a quality Diamondbacks club that is handing the ball to a rookie for his major league debut.

Left-hander Anthony Banda gets the call-up from Triple-A, filling the vacancy created when Taijuan Walker was placed on the paternity leave list. Banda's numbers at Reno (5.08 ERA, 1.426 WHIP) were not impressive, but he is regarded as a top pitching prospect (88th in the sport entering the season, according to Baseball America).

We've seen the Nationals have success against kids making their debuts before, and we've also seen them struggle in these situations. It'll be interesting to see what they have to offer tonight against Banda.

Tanner Roark, meanwhile, starts for the Nationals, looking to build off his strong outing in Cincinnati way back at the start of this road trip. The right-hander is facing a Diamondbacks lineup that is without Paul Goldschmidt, which can only be considered a fortuitous break for the visitors.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, XM 89/869, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS (57-38)
CF Brian Goodwin
LF Chris Heisey
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Daniel Murphy
3B Anthony Rendon
C Matt Wieters
SS Wilmer Difo
RHP Tanner Roark

DIAMONDBACKS (56-40)
RF David Peralta
CF A.J. Pollock
3B Jake Lamb
C Chris Iannetta
1B Daniel Descalso
2B Chris Owings
SS Ketel Marte
LF Chris Herrmann
LHP Anthony Banda