The Washington Nationals have dropped five games in a row and seven of their last eight, but the silver lining is that all of those games were on the road. On Friday, the Nationals will return to Nationals Park hoping the familiar surroundings will cure their woes.
Of course, it helps that the Nationals are playing a team stuck in a rut as well. The San Diego Padres enter Washington D.C. with only a 20-30 record, having recently lost five in a row before snapping the losing streak on Wednesday. John Lannan takes the hill for Washington looking to improve on his poor outing last Saturday. He'll go up against Clayton Richards, a lefty who is just 2-5 on the season.
Brian Bixler will once again get the start in left field instead of Laynce Nix. Here is the full Nationals' lineup:
- Roger Bernadina (CF)
- Ian Desmond (SS)
- Jayson Werth (RF)
- Michael Morse (1B)
- Wilson Ramos (C)
- Danny Espinosa (2B)
- Jerry Hairston Jr. (3B)
- Brian Bixler (LF)
- John Lannan (P)