Last weekend, it was Tanner Roark pitching against the Marlins, and he had his worst outing of the season. There are many theories as to why he has struggled against the Fish, and tonight he gets to prove that he can dominate their line-up. The Marlins are without the suspended Dee Gordon, and Giancarlo Stanton is mired in a huge slump as the Phillies completely shut him down as he went 0-for-10 with 9 strikeouts in the three games.
“I’m playing like [garbage],” Giancarlo Stanton said. “Can’t do it no more. [Your team is] not going to be successful when you get zero production out of your clean-up guy. I’ve said that before. That clearly shows you’re not going to win series. They’ll pick you up some games, but that’s not ideal.”
The Marlins are pitching lefty Justin Nicolino who the Nats tagged for 3 runs in the 1st inning last Saturday in DC in a game the Nats won 6-4.
Both teams know each other very well, and this is an opportunity for Dusty Baker‘s team to get out early on Nicolino and give Roark a lead to work with. It’s also Jayson Werth‘s 37th birthday today, and we wish him all the best!
Here are the Nats stats against Nicolino:
Here is Tanner Roark‘s stats against the Marlins:
Lineup (subject to change without notice):
- Michael Taylor CF
- Jayson Werth LF
- Bryce Harper RF
- Daniel Murphy 2B
- Ryan Zimmerman 1B
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Wilson Ramos C
- Danny Espinosa SS
- Tanner Roark RHP
