Harper scratched with illness, Zimmerman still out (Nats win 10-4)

PHOENIX - The stomach bug that has been making its way around the Nationals clubhouse over the last two weeks appears to have gotten Bryce Harper now.

Harper had to be scratched from tonight's lineup with an illness, the club announced about an hour before scheduled first pitch against the Diamondbacks.

Harper was due to bat third and start in right field, hoping to pick up where he left off Monday night when he reached base three times during the Nationals' 14-1 victory at Chase Field. But he was unable to start the game, and it's unclear if he'll be available off the bench before night's end.

Anthony Rendon and Stephen Drew each missed time with illnesses about two weeks ago. Now Harper appears to have it. Reliever Sammy Solis also has been under the weather the last few days.

Harper's late scratch forced manager Dusty Baker to reconfigure a lineup that had already been reconfigured to account for Ryan Zimmerman's swollen left wrist. Chris Heisey, who was due to start in center field, shifted to right field. Trea Turner, who was supposed to start at second base, moved to center field. Wilmer Difo came off the bench in place of Harper and started at second base.

Zimmerman is out of the lineup for the second straight night, two days after taking a fastball off his left wrist in San Francisco. Multiple X-rays taken on the wrist came back negative, showing no fractures, but the wrist is still swollen and sore enough to keep Zimmerman from starting.

Update: We're through four innings, and this game is knotted at 2-2. The Nats jumped on Robbie Ray in the top of the first, with Turner and Jayson Werth each singling and setting up Turner to score on Daniel Murphy's RBI groundout. The Diamondbacks bounced right back to tie the game in the bottom of the first, though it could've been much worse after they loaded the bases with nobody out. Tanner Roark limited the damage to one run, thanks in large part to a stellar 4-6-3 double play started by Difo and turned by Danny Espinosa. Yasmany Tomas took Roark deep in the second inning, giving Arizona a 2-1 lead. But the Nats got the equalizer in the top of the fourth when Difo (who is 2-for-2 tonight) delivered a two-out RBI single up the middle. And so this one's tied heading to the fifth.

Update II: Well, that changed in a hurry. The Nationals just racked up four runs in the top of the fifth, getting a three-run blast from Wilson Ramos and a solo homer by Heisey on the very next pitch. Ramos has now matched his career high with 16 homers. He's got 59 RBIs, approaching his career high of 68. The season will officially be two-thirds complete tomorrow. It's 6-2 Nats in the fifth.

Update III: Make it 7-3 Nats at the seventh-inning stretch, thanks to Werth's solo homer, his 13th of the season. Jake Lamb took Roark deep a few minutes earlier, but the Nationals have provided their starter with a nice little cushion.

Update IV: They're piling on again, making the Diamondbacks bullpen look really bad. It's 10-3 in the eighth after five singles in the inning, including RBIs from Turner, Murphy and Rendon. The Nationals have scored 24 runs on 34 hits through the first 17 innings of this series.

Update V: Nats win. The final was 10-4 after Arizona got a run with two outs in the ninth. Roark improves to 11-6. The Nats lead the Marlins by six games, the Mets by 7 1/2 games.