Harper still out, Lombardozzi in left

ATLANTA - Bryce Harper is out of the Nationals lineup for the fifth straight game because of bursitis in his left knee, leaving manager Davey Johnson to again try and piece together an outfield alignment featuring multiple bench players and a batting order that includes multiple guys with batting averages below the Mendoza Line. Johnson has opted to sit Tyler Moore for tonight's series opener against the Braves, instead going with Steve Lombardozzi in left field and Roger Bernadina in right. Lombardozzi (hitting .234 this season) will hit second, Bernadina (.154) will bat sixth and Danny Espinosa (.162) will be slotted in the No. 7 hole. Johnson said yesterday that Harper might be able to return to the lineup today after getting a chance to rest his ailing knee earlier this week, but the Nats are opting to give Harper at least one more day to let the swelling in his knee subside. For the Braves, Jason Heyward will lead off, Evan Gattis will play left field and B.J. Upton - who is batting just .146 on the season and is 1-for-8 in his career against Stephen Strasburg - will be on the bench. This will be Gattis' ninth game in left field this season. He caught 24 games with Brian McCann on the DL, but has gotten bumped out from behind the plate and into the outfield. For the Nats CF Denard Span LF Steve Lombardozzi 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche SS Ian Desmond RF Roger Bernadina 2B Danny Espinosa C Kurt Suzuki RHP Stephen Strasburg For the Braves CF Jason Heyward SS Ramiro Pena RF Justin Upton 1B Freddie Freeman LF Evan Gattis C Brian McCann 2B Dan Uggla 3B Chris Johnson RHP Julio Teheran