The so-called Battle of the Beltways continues on Saturday when the Washington Nationals again play host to the Baltimore Orioles at Nationals Park. Baltimore took the first game of the series 2-1 in extra innings on Friday night, with Washington's bats once again failing to generate any offense.
Manager Davey Johnson is mixing things up for Saturday's game, benching Danny Espinosa and playing rookie Steve Lombardozzi at second base. Lombardozzi will leadoff, dropping Ian Desmond to the fifth spot in the lineup. Carlos Maldonado will also be in the lineup, getting his first start behind the plate.
Today's starting lineups for both clubs, courtesy of Mark Zuckerman from Nats Insider:
NATIONALS (23-16)
2B Steve Lombardozzi
RF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
CF Rick Ankiel
C Carlos Maldonado
LF Roger Bernadina
LHP Ross DetwilerORIOLES (26-14)
2B Robert Andino
SS J.J. Hardy
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
1B Wilson Betemit
3B Steve Tolleson
LF Xavier Avery
RHP Jason Hammel
We'll have plenty more on this series throughout the weekend here on SB Nation DC, so keep it locked to this StorySteam for all the latest news and updates as they become available. For more on this series and all things Washington Nationals baseball, please head over to Federal Baseball. You can also check out Camden Chat, SB Nation's Baltimore Orioles blog, for some perspective from the other dugout. As always, check out the SB Nation Major League Baseball hub page for more infer on this and all MLB series.