There will be some differences in the Washington Nationals lineup Saturday night as they take on the Florida Marlins at 7:10 P.M. in Miami. Center fielder Rick Ankiel was placed on the 15-Day DL with a wrist injury and left fielder Michael Morse continues to nurse a sore right knee. This coupled with the Nationals offense being pretty near lackluster this past week forced the Nats to make some moves.
Outfielder Roger Bernadina was called up from Triple-A Syracuse to man the center outfield position for Ankiel and he also will be replacing usual lead-off hitter Danny Espinosa who was shifted to batting eighth after struggling to get on base. Bernadina addition to the outfield also moves Jerry Hairston Jr. back to third base on Saturday. Powerhouse Laynce Nix will continue to fill in for Morse in left field and first baseman Adam LaRoche has been assigned the clean-up spot in the line-up.
Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny (2-1, 2.93 ERA) is looking to shake and rattle the Marlins offense himself. Gorzelanny is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts against the Fish. His opponent will be Chris Volstad who is 2-1 and holds a 6.00 ERA.
NATIONALS LINEUP
Roger Bernadina - CF
Ian Desmond - SS
Jayson Werth - RF
Adam LaRoche - 1B
Wilson Ramos - C
Laynce Nix - LF
Jerry Hairston Jr. - 3B
Danny Espinosa - 2B
Tom Gorzelanny - SP