The Washington Nationals are hoping the second time is a charm in L.A. as they look for their first win under the management of Davey Johnson against the Los Angeles Angels. The Nationals were just edged by the Angels on Monday night in extra innings by the score of 4-3.
Johnson is still getting a feel for his new team and is taking stock of what he actually has in front of him. The team has a lot of promise, but there are still some questions to be answered such as is the offense truly built to click and keep hitting and are the performances from the starters and relievers all sustainable. On Monday Johnson used Matt Stairs in the DH position, but he went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and a walk and he put Jayson Werth second in the line-up to hopefully drive in some runs, but Werth went for an abysmal 0-for-5 including not being able to hit in a run in the 10th inning that would have given the Nationals the lead.
Johnson also did not have his best reliever on hand in Tyler Clippard who was given the night off because of a tired arm. Clippard will most likely be available Tuesday night in possible support of the Nationals starter Jason Marquis (7-2, 3.53 ERA). Marquis was dominating in his last start against the Seattle Mariners taking a no-hitter into the sixth-inning. He will oppose Joel Pineiro (3-3, 4.09 ERA) on the mound and face Torii Hunter who is returning to the Angels line-up after suffering a posterior rib contusion last Wednesday.
The Nats and Halos square off at 10:05 P.M. EST.
Nationals Line-Up
Roger Bernadina - CF
Jayson Werth - RF
Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
Laynce Nix - LF
Michael Morse - 1B
Danny Espinosa - 2B
Wilson Ramos - C
Matt Stairs - DH
Ian Desmond - SS
-- Jason Marquis - SP