As Danny Espinosa and his wife Sara welcomed their baby boy Ty into this world, the team is expecting to be without Danny Espinosa, and he will join the team tomorrow. Dusty Baker is back at the helm of the Nats tonight after he had a death in the family per the team’s report, and bench coach Chris Speier flawlessly (except for a missed defensive shift Speier confessed to botching) led the Nats to a 1-0 win over the Mets to put the Nats in a very comfortable situation for the remaining sixteen games this season as the 87-59 Nationals now hold a 10.0 game lead in the NL East with a Magic Number of 7.
Max Scherzer is pitching for the Nationals tonight in his hopes for win number 17 that eluded him 6 days ago.
The Braves are working on auditions for next year, and will start rookie right-hander John Gant who has pitched 43 innings this year to a 4.40 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Gant was a 21st round pick of the NY Mets and was part of the July 2015 trade that sent Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from the Braves to the Mets. Rob Whalen also was part of the trade and sent to the Braves.
Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves
Stadium: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
1st Pitch: 7:35 pm EDT
TV: MASN, Fox Sports South, MLB.TV
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Trea Turner CF
- Jayson Werth LF
- Daniel Murphy 2B
- Bryce Harper RF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Wilson Ramos C
- Ryan Zimmerman 1B
- Stephen Drew SS
- Max Scherzer RHP
Rendon two run single in the 1st inning
Trea Turner HR #9
