Tanner Roark and the Nationals Take On the Mets in DC

May 10, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher

(57) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

After a long, hard road trip on the west coast, the Washington Nationals return home Friday night to take on the New York Mets in the first game of a three game series. The Nationals last played the Mets in early April in the opening series at Citi Field, sweeping their rivals from the north in three games.

Tanner Roark gets the start for the Nationals as he hopes to build off another strong outing and continue his early season success at Nationals Park. Roark pitched seven and two-thirds strong innings in which he allowed just one run on two hits against a powerful Athletics lineup last Saturday, but earned a no-decision.

The Mets will counter with veteran left-hander Jon Niese, who has gone 11 consecutive starts without allowing three runs or more and boasts an impressive 2.18 ERA on the season. Last time out, the Mets south paw allowed three runs over six innings while striking out six batters against the Phillies.

Although Niese has been dominant of late, he’s had his fair share of struggles against several Nationals hitters. Danny Espinosa has a career .500 batting average against the left-hander and Nate McLouth, who is on the bench, has two hits in three at bats against him.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

Nationals:

Span CF

Rendon 3B

Werth RF

Ramos C

Desmond SS

Hairston LF

Moore 1B

Espinosa 2B

Roark P

Mets:

Young, Jr. LF

Murphy 2B

Wright 3B

Granderson CF

Abreu RF

Duda 1B

Recker C

Tejada SS

Niese P