Rendon quickly improving at the plate (with lineups)

By Josh Land

Nationals

June 16, 2015, 12:07pm

Comments

Bryce Harper returns to right field a night after going 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts as the designated hitter. Harper has calmed his strikeouts down considerably since the first month of the season. He has just six in 55 plate appearances in June and yesterday was his first game with multiple whiffs since May 27.

With Yunel Escobar serving as the DH tonight, Anthony Rendon moves over to third base with Danny Espinosa at second. Rendon's timing seems to be improving 49 plate appearances into the delayed start of his season. Over his current six-game hitting streak, Rendon has slashed .333/.483/.429 with a .911 OPS.

The Nationals might have an opportunity to play some longball against Rays right-hander Alex Colome. He has been tagged for eight homers in his nine starts this season.

For the Nationals:

CF Denard Span
2B Anthony Rendon
DH Yunel Escobar
RF Bryce Harper
C Wilson Ramos
1B Clint Robinson
2B Danny Espinosa
LF Michael A. Taylor
SS Ian Desmond

RHP Tanner Roark

For the Rays:

CF Kevin Kiermaier
DH Joey Butler
3B Evan Longoria
LF David DeJesus
2B Logan Forsythe
RF Steven Souza Jr.
SS Asdrubal Cabrera
1B Jake Elmore
C Rene Rivera

RHP Alex Colome