ST. LOUIS - Hello from good old Missouri, and more specifically, the press box at Busch Stadium.
The Gateway Arch is currently staring me right in the face as I look out on this field for the first time in person. It's a nice park, and I'm looking forward to experiencing the St. Louis baseball atmosphere I've heard so much about.
And I'm serious when I say I've heard a ton about how great the in-game environment is here. These St. Louis fans better step their game up tonight and make sure I enjoy the experience.
The Nationals will look to keep the momentum from their two straight wins in Philadelphia going tonight as they face 2010 NL Cy Young runner-up Adam Wainwright tonight, he of the 13-13 record and 4.02 ERA.
The Nats smacked Wainwright around pretty good back on Aug. 31, touching him up for six runs on nine hits over just 2 2/3 innings in a 10-0 win.
Edwin Jackson will get the ball for the Nats as he returns to face the team with which he won the World Series last year. Jackson appeared in 13 regular season games and made four postseason starts after getting traded to the Cardinals last season.
In his career at Busch Stadium, Jackson is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA over 10 starts.
The Nationals' scheduled starters in this series behind Jackson are Jordan Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler, who will face Kyle Lohse and Lance Lynn, respectively.
It's possible manager Davey Johnson switches things around should the Nats clinch tomorrow, possibly inserting Chien-Ming Wang into the rotation for another start, but until the Nats lock up the division, he'll stick with the current alignment and, as he likes to say, put his best foot forward.
If you have a few minutes, check out this piece written by Mark Patrick, the father of Drew Storen. It's a story written special to SI.com in which Patrick talks about his emotions while watching Storen pitch, and specifically pitch in the game which locked up a playoff spot for the Nats.
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 Edwin Jackson
For the Cardinals:
CF Jon Jay
3B Matt Carpenter
LF Matt Holliday
1B Allen Craig
C Yadier Molina
RF Carlos Beltran
2B Daniel Descalso
SS Pete Kozma
P Adam Wainwright
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