Washington Nationals starter Chien-Ming Wang (2-3, 4.43 ERA) has been back to pitching for over a month now since recovering from right shoulder surgery, but no doubt his last outing against the New York Mets is still fresh in his mind.
Wang returned to pitching in the Majors on July 29th and the team he faced was the Mets, but it wasn't the most pleasant of comebacks. The Mets roughed him up a bit and soured his first performance with the Nationals, but since then Wang has settled in, has gotten more comfortable and is slowly becoming the pitcher Washington hoped he would be. Chances are, when the Nats and Mets face off on Tuesday night in game two of the season series finale, it will be a whole different Wang the Mets will be facing. Wang's sinker has vastly improved over time and his delivery is getting smoother with each outing. That will spell trouble for New York and Dillon Gee (12-6, 4.42 ERA).
After getting a night off on Monday, shortstop Ian Desmond and second baseman Danny Espinosa return to the line up.
Nationals Line-Up
Ian Desmond - SS
Rick Ankiel - CF
Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
Michael Morse - LF
Jayson Werth - RF
Danny Espinosa - 2B
Chris Marrero - 1B
Wilson Ramos - C
Chien-Ming Wang - SP