Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in West Palm Beach (García scratched)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After starting Grapefruit League play 3-0, the Nationals have now dropped four straight games. Not that spring training records mean anything, but you would like to get back in the win column sooner rather than later.

Tonight’s game against the Marlins provides a perfect opportunity to do that.

The Nationals dominated the Marlins last year, winning 11 of their 13 matchups. And they’ve already beat up on the Fish this spring with a 14-7 win in Jupiter on Tuesday.

MacKenzie Gore also dominated the Marlins last year, going 2-0 with 24 strikeouts to four walks and only allowing two earned runs over 19 innings (0.95 ERA). There are a lot of new and relatively unknown names in Miami’s lineup tonight, so this should be the perfect opponent for the young lefty to start his spring action on a positive note.

Gore was originally slated to start the Nats’ Grapefruit League opener a week ago against the Astros. But after he talked with manager Davey Martinez, the Nats decided to bump him back because the southpaw wanted to be able to go multiple innings in his first actual spring start. So look for Gore to go at least two frames tonight, perhaps three (as Michael Soroka did this afternoon) if his domination of the Marlins continues in quick fashion.

Dylan Crews also makes his first start of the spring in center field.

Update: Luis García Jr. was a late scratch from tonight's game. Darren Baker is playing second base and batting ninth instead. Riley Adams, Drew Millas and José Tena all moved up a spot in the order. We will have an update on García from manager Davey Martinez after the game.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (ss) vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Marlins’ feed)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left-center field

NATIONALS (ss)
SS CJ Abrams
CF Dylan Crews
LF Juan Yepez
1B Andrés Chaparro
RF Alex Call
2B Luis García Jr.
C Riley Adams
DH Drew Millas
3B José Tena
2B Darren Baker

LHP MacKenzie Gore

MARLINS
SS Xavier Edwards
RF Griffin Conine
CF Derek Hill
3B Eric Wagaman
2B Otto Lopez
DH Matt Mervis
C Agustin Ramirez
1B Deyvison De Los Santos
LF Heriberto Hernandez

LHP Ryan Weathers