Mets Vs. Nationals Final Score: Washington Wins Again, 2-0

Rany Jazayerli: 'There Are So Many Reasons Why Shutting Down [Stephen] Strasburg Is A Mistake'

Nationals Vs. Mets: Michael Morse, Danny Espinosa To Miss Series Finale

The Washington Nationals will go for the series sweep against the New York Mets on Wednesday without the services of Michael Morse or Danny Espinosa. Morse is suffering from an injured left hand that has affected him for about a month. He finally got an X-ray and MRI on Wednesday and will miss at least a couple of days as results revealed it was only a bone bruise.

Morse says he has a bone bruise on L hand. Doesn't know timetable for return but relieved it's nothing more serious.

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) September 12, 2012

Morse will be replaced in the lineup by Roger Bernadina in left field. Also missing Wednesday's game is 2B Danny Espinosa. Espinosa is missing the game due to the death of his grandmother but will be back in the lineup on Friday in Atlanta.

The Mets will give 1B Ike Davis a rest and start Lucas Duda in his place.

Full lineups below:

Washington Nationals

1. Jayson Werth, RF
2. Bryce Harper, CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Adam LaRoche, 1B
5. Ian Desmond, SS
6. Roger Bernadina, LF
7. Kurt Suzuki, C
8. Steve Lombardozzi, 2B
9. John Lannan, SP

New York Mets

1. Ruben Tejada, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Scott Hairston, RF
5. Lucas Duda, 1B
6. Kelly Shoppach, C
7. Jason Bay, LF
8. Andres Torres, CF
9. Matt Harvey, SP

For more on the Nationals, be sure to check out Federal Baseball and SB Nation D.C.

Nationals Vs: Mets Preview: John Lannan Steps In For Stephen Strasburg As Washington Goes For Sweep

Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg was supposed to make his last scheduled start of the season Wednesday when the Mets host the Nationals. But with his shutdown becoming a reality after a poor showing last Friday, left-hander John Lannan is set to take his place in the rotation for the remainder of the season and will get the start at Citi Field instead.

Lannan is 2-0 this season with the Nationals -- mostly as a spot starter -- and enters the game with a 3.46 ERA. His last victory came on Aug. 3 against the Miami Marlins, when the left-hander pitched six complete innings and gave up three earned runs on four hits while walking five batters and striking out four.

He's spent most of the season with Triple-A Syracuse after losing a spring training competition with another left-hander, Ross Detwiler.

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation D.C.

Michael Morse Injury: Nationals Outfielder Will Miss Time With Left Hand Injury

After Tuesday night's win over the New York Mets, Washington Nationals starting left-fielder Michael Morse is expected to miss some time out of the lineup as he prepares to see a doctor about his injured left hand.

Morse had been dealing with an injury to his right hand which caused him to miss some time last month and as a result, he feels he may have overcompensated, causing him to injure his opposite hand, according to a CSNWashington.com report.

After going 0-5 at the plate against the Mets, the 30-year-old decided that he could no longer continue on in his condition:

"I'm not helping the team when I'm not 100 percent," Morse said. "I'm not helping myself, either. I'm going to get it looked at the next couple days, get down to the bottom of it and try to get back to 100 percent. I'm not 100 percent."

"This has been for like a month now," he said. "I think when I hurt my hand, my thumb, one swing I kind of let go of the bat and I just swung one-handed and I kind of messed my left wrist up a little bit."

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation D.C.

AUDIO: The SB Nation DC Podcast Has A New Name And New Guests

Nationals Vs. Mets Recap: Tyler Moore Homer, 9th-Inning Rally Clinch Final Series Against New York

The Washington Nationals clinched their final series of the season against the Mets on Tuesday night with a 5-3 win. Two rallies in the late innings and a solid outing by Jordan Zimmermann and the bullpen locked up their 88th win of the season. It was pinch-hitter Tyler Moore who came through at the plate, corking a two-run shot in the seventh that would put the Nats back on top, 3-2. They would never look back, adding some insurance in the ninth for the 13th win in 17 games against New York.

Zimmermann didn't have his best stuff, but got through five innings and gave up only two runs. Three straight hits in the fifth would score both runs for the Mets, but that would be all Zimmermann would yield in what would be his final inning. Rookie Christian Garcia, a recent call-up with impressive stuff, struck out three in 1.1 perfect innings of scoreless relief.

On the other side, it looked like knuckleballer R.A. Dickey might go the distance yet again, cruising through the first six innings. But Moore took advantage of the first pitch from Dickey during his pinch-hit at-bat to give Washington the lead for good. Dickey would get out of the inning with the Mets trailing 3-2, but that would be it for him -- his bid to match the 19 wins of Gio Gonzalez coming up short.

Washington added two more runs in their last at-bat to provide a cushion for closer Tyler Clippard. Five straight Nats got on base, with Kurt Suzuki and Bryce Harper each driving in a run. Harper finished with the first four-hit game of his career.

The Nats will go for the series sweep on Wednesday night with John Lannan on the mound. The veteran lefty will be pitching in Stephen Strasburg's turn in the rotation, with the ace now shutdown for the season.

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation D.C.

Nationals Vs. Mets Lineup: Starters Announced For Game 2 Of Series

The Washington Nationals will play the second game in a three-game set against the New York Mets on Tuesday night at Citi Field in hopes of securing a series win.

Following a homer-happy win on Monday in which Gio Gonzalez picking up his Major League-leading 19th win, the Nationals have a chance to move one step closer to the postseason for the first time since they moved from Montreal.

Washington is rolling with a familiar lineup against R.A. Dickey -- in fact, it's the same lineup that pounded Mets pitching in the series opener.

1. Jayson Werth (R), RF
2. Bryce Harper (L), CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman (R), 3B
4. Adam LaRoche (L), 1B
5. Michael Morse (R), LF
6. Ian Desmond (R), SS
7. Danny Espinosa (S), 2B
8. Kurt Suzuki (R), C
9. Jordan Zimmermann (R), P

New York, on the other hand, will go with a much different look, as Ronny Cedeno and Scott Hairston will both watch on Tuesday with the right-handed Zimmermann going for the Nats.

1. Ruben Tejada (R), SS
   
2. Daniel Murphy (L), 2B
   
3. David Wright (R), 3B
4. Ike Davis (L), 1B
   
5. Mike Baxter (L), RF
   
6. Jason Bay (R), LF
7. Andres Torres (L), CF
8. Josh Thole (R), C
   
9. R.A. Dickey (R), P

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation D.C.

Nationals Vs. Mets Preview: Jordan Zimmermann Tries To Clinch Series In New York

The Washington Nationals will go for a series-clinching win against the New York Mets Tuesday night with Jordan Zimmermann on the hill. The Mets' lineup was shut down by Gio Gonzalez in the series opener, as the Nats cruised to a 5-1 win. Davey Johnson's lineup smashed three homers on their way to their 87th win of the year.

Zimmermann now takes the hill for his 29th start of the season, facing a team he's pitched well against this year. He rebounded from an ugly outing against the Cardinals with a quality start against the Cubs last week, allowing just two earned runs and striking out nine in seven innings.

In three starts against the Mets this year, he's 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He's dominated the division rival and he'll look to continue that on Tuesday as the Nats try to build their cushion in the NL East before a weekend series with the Braves.

TV: MASN

Time: 7:10 p.m. ET

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation DC for all the latest news and updates.

Nationals Vs. Mets: Washington Gets Homer Happy In 5-1 Win

The Washington Nationals hit three home runs and Gio Gonzalez pitched six innings to record his 19th win of the season as Washington started its National League East road trip with a 5-1 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field Monday night.

Washington broke the game open with three runs in the third inning as Kurt Suzuki hit a solo home run to left field and Ryan Zimmerman smashed a two-run shot to dead center field four batters later. Ian Desmond ended the Nats' scoring for the night in the fourth inning, when he hit a two-run opposite-field homer to right-center field. Desmond's blast was also the final hit of the night for Washington, whose magic number to clinch the division was reduced to 15 after Atlanta's 4-1 loss to Milwaukee later Monday night.

New York got their only run in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Scott Hairston led off the half-inning with a solo home run to left-center field off of Gonzalez (19-7). The left-hander struck out six New York batters and scattered three hits and five walks over his six innings. Mets starter Collin McHugh (0-2) pitched just four innings and allowed five hits (including the three home runs) and two walks while striking out three batters.

For more on the Nationals, be sure to check out Federal Baseball.

Nationals Vs. Mets Lineup: Washington Begins Divisional Road Trip In New York

The Washington Nationals have stumbled a bit in recent days as the season winds down, dropping two out of three to the last-place Marlins. The club will now head to New York for a three-game series with the Mets, who were swept over the weekend by the Braves.

Game one of the series will feature Gio Gonzalez (18-7, 2.98 ERA) and Collin McHugh (0-1, 3.27 ERA) on the mound. First pitch from Citi Field is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Here are the lineups for tonight's game.

Nationals:

Jayson Werth - RF
Bryce Harper - CF
Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
Adam LaRoche - 1B
Michael Morse - LF
Ian Desmond - SS
Danny Espinosa - 2B
Kurt Suzuki - C
Gio Gonzalez - P

Mets:

Ruben Tejada - SS
Ronny Cedeno - 2B
David Wright - 3B
Scott Hairston - RF
Ike Davis - 1B
Kelly Shoppach - C
Jason Bay - LF
Andres Torres - CF
Collin McHugh - P

For more on the Nationals, be sure to check out Federal Baseball.

Don't Ever Change, Bryce Harper

Over an eventful couple days in the nation's capital, Washington Nationals' rookie Bryce Harper threw some runners out, set off a brawl, hit some home runs and earned more praise from his manager.

Nationals Vs. Mets Preview: Game Info, TV Schedule And More

The Nationals look to move closer in their quest to clinch the NL East on Monday night against the Mets.