Game 88 lineups: Nats vs. Royals

Even with the extra-inning loss to the Royals in the rearview mirror, the Nationals have some positives to take away from Friday's events at Nats Park.

The Nats fell to Kansas City 7-4 in 11 innings, but came back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, watching as Ryan Zimmerman's power returned and learned that Anthony Rendon will sacrifice his All-Star Game invitation in order to stay in D.C. and rehab a tight left quad/hamstring for the duration of the break.

Zimmerman launched three doubles, including a pair of late RBI hits to propel his club back in the game. He now has 1,001 RBIs for his career. And what is also nice is to hear a player acknowledge that the number means something to him. Zimmerman has played 15 seasons with the Nationals.

"Obviously a pretty cool milestone to get," Zimmerman said. "I think I've been lucky enough to play for a long time. Really lucky to play for the same team. So, to have all those with this uniform on is special to me. It's something I never really thought about when I came up. I was more of a defensive player. So to get that many RBIs is obviously a big career mark for me. It would've been better to get it in a win. But the team fought tonight. It was a great back-and-forth. But a pretty cool accomplishment."

Rendon sat down with Nats personnel before the game, presumably a meeting that involved manager Davey Martinez and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo, and decided that forgoing his first-ever All-Star Game appearance was best for the Nationals. He admitted that he has had this left quad/hamstring issue since June 2 in Cincinnati, which is certainly more than "a couple of weeks." But it emphasizes the priorities of Rendon, and how getting to the postseason is the ultimate goal of this team.

At the start of play today, the Nats have second place in National League East, and hold a 69.9 percent chance of making the playoffs. On May 23 at 19-31, this seemed to be a distant pipe dream.

Today the Nats hand the ball to their ace, Max Scherzer, who became a Dad again Thursday when is wife Erica gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Kacey Hart. So Scherzer will look to beat K.C. for Kacey.

Scherzer (8-5, 2.43 ERA) has won six games in a row and was the NL Pitcher of the Month in June. He has a 1.00 ERA with 68 strikeouts to only five walks during this streak. Scherzer went 10-5 with a 3.55 ERA in 20 starts against the Royals from 2010-2014. The Royals start right-hander Glenn Sparkman (2-4, 5.09).

KANSAS CITY ROYALS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 1500 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Thunderstorms, 90 degrees, 65 percent chance of precipitation, wind 8 mph in from center field

NATIONALS (45-41)

SS Trea Turner
RF Adam Eaton
3B Anthony Rendon
LF Juan Soto
2B Howie Kendrick
1B Matt Adams
C Kurt Suzuki
CF Victor Robles
RHP Max Scherzer

ROYALS (30-59)

CF Whit Merrifield
SS Adalberto Mondesi
LF Alex Gordon
3B Hunter Dozier
RF Jorge Soler
1B Lucas Duda
2B Nicky Lopez
C Cam Gallagher
RHP Glenn Sparkman