No day off for Desmond, Werth

Davey Johnson had said he planned on giving both Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth the day off for today's rubber game against the Mets. That's not happening. Both Desmond and Werth are in today's Nationals lineup. I'd be interested to hear the reasoning for Johnson's change of heart. I have a hard time believing that last night's shutout loss to the Mets factored in at all, but it's possible Desmond and Werth both convinced their skipper that they're OK to play again this afternoon. The Nationals will send Gio Gonzalez to the hill today as they look to avoid their first series loss to the Mets this season. Gonzalez will attempt to tie David Price and Johnny Cueto for the major league lead in wins. He could earn his 16th victory of the season today, which would also tie a career high for the Nationals lefty. The Mets will counter with righty Jeremy Hefner, who has appeared in 18 games this season, only six of which have been starts. Two of those six starts have come against the Nats. He allowed three runs over six innings back on June 6 and then just two earned in six innings on July 25. Hefner was stuck with the loss both times. For the Nats: RF Jayson Werth CF Bryce Harper 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche LF Michael Morse SS Ian Desmond 2B Danny Espinosa C Kurt Suzuki P Gio Gonzalez For the Mets: CF Andres Torres 2B Justin Turner 3B David Wright RF Scott Hairston 1B Ike Davis SS Ronny Cedeno LF Jason Bay C Kelly Shoppach P Jeremy Hefner