After two days of rest thanks to a postponed game and a scheduled off day, the Washington Nationals return home to the friendly confines of Nationals Park to try and fend off the Cincinnati Reds in a three game series. Starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang (1-2, 3.60 ERA) takes the mound against Mike Leake (10-7, 3.84 ERA) in the first game of the affair.
Wang is coming off the best start of his short 2011 campaign. Wang threw six-innings of one hit ball against the Chicago Cubs last week, looking very much like the pitcher the Nationals were hoping they acquired and nursed back to health from shoulder problems. Manager Davey Johnson admitted that he had Wang on a limited pitch count, but is confident the tall, Taiwanese right-hander can now go deep into games.
On Tuesday night the Nationals will be honoring the Navy SEALs by wearing a special hat during the game:
On Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds, the Nationals will wear cap emblazoned with the Navy SEALs logo to honor the 22 SEALs killed alongside eight other U.S. servicemen and eight Afghans in the Aug. 6 helicopter attack in Afghanistan. Tuesday night will be the Nationals’ first game in Washington since the attack took place.
The Nationals have used caps to honor the victims of other tragedies, including when they wore a hodgepodge of caps with the Virginia Tech logo following the April 16, 2007 massacre on campus.
First pitch will be at 7:05 P.M.
Nationals Line-Up
Rick Ankiel - CF
Danny Espinosa - 2B
Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
Michael Morse - 1B
Jayson Werth - RF
Laynce Nix - LF
Ian Desmond - SS
Wilson Ramos - C
Chien-Ming Wang - SP