Little different look for the Nationals before today’s 12:10 game with the Marlins. Here’s the lineup, followed by some thoughts from Manny Acta on it:
Guzman SS
SEE RELATED:
Dukes CF
Zimmerman 3B
Dunn 1B
Willingham LF
Kearns RF
Harris 2B
Nieves C
Cabrera P
Manny Acta said he wanted to get Willingham and Dukes some at-bats to keep them sharp. “We’ve got to get guys at-bats and seeing pitches and stuff, so when you need them off the bench or if somebody goes down, they don’t have to go through a long period of time adjusting,” he said.
The day-game-after-night-game equation only meant Jesus Flores would be out of the lineup, to avoid catching two days in a row. As for the outfielders? “We could have played at midnight, and those guys were going to play,” Acta said.
It also helps the Nationals get Nick Johnson two days off in a row (combined with Thursday’s off-day). That’s something Acta will be mindful of, at least for a while, since Johnson hasn’t played a full season since 2006.
