There is some respectability on the line this afternoon for the Washington Nationals as they go for the trifecta today with a win against the Cubs. If the Nationals win they would match their longest winning streak this season at 6-games while also grabbing a share of 2nd Place in the NL East standings plus the winner of today’s game would win the season series 4-3 between the Nats and Cubs. This is a rescheduled game today from Sunday’s rain postponement. There is some real pressure on the Cubs today as they hold the narrowest of leads in the NL Central with only a 1.0 game lead over the Brewers. The Cubs lost last night in Wrigley to the Brewers and had to fly in to D.C. for this makeup game. The Nats had a scheduled day-off today on the road in Atlanta. The Cubs had a scheduled day-off at home before their series this weekend with the Reds.
On the original line-up card for Sunday prior to the rain-out, Dave Martinez had penciled in Victor Robles to lead-off and play centerfield with Adam Eaton getting a day-off against the lefty starter Mike Montgomery who once again is scheduled to pitch today.
The Nationals are starting Joe Ross today. They could have started Max Scherzer on regular rest, but Mad Max went for a complete game against these Cubs in Saturday’s doubleheader and labored through the 9th inning finishing with 111-pitches. It seemed prudent to give Scherzer the extra day of rest and he will pitch tomorrow in Atlanta. Ross, technically is making his 2018 debut as his stats were washed-out when his Friday start was rained out after 1 2/3 innings. He looked brilliant in that brief outing.
Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 4:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN2; MLB App out-of-market
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
