Nationals versus Giants Game 2 Lineups and Predictions

San Francisco Giants:

1. Gregor Blanco CF

2. Joe Panik 2B

3. Buster Posey C

4. Pablo Sandoval 3B

5. Hunter Pence RF

6. Brandon Belt 1B

7. Brandon Crawford SS

8. Travis Ishikawa LF

9. Tim Hudson RHP

Washington Nationals:

1. Denard Span CF

2. Anthony Rendon 2B

3. Jayson Werth RF

4. Adam LaRoche 1B

5. Ian Desmond SS

6. Bryce Harper LF

7. Wilson Ramos C

8. Asdrubal Cabrera

9. Jordan Zimmermann RHP

Predictions:

For the Washington Nationals this is a must win game. Matt Williams will hand over the ball to right-hander Jordan Zimmermann who has been his best starter since the All-Star break. He has lowered his ERA from 3.20 to 2.66 since the break, striking out 81 batters to just nine walks. Zimmermann is coming off a n0-hitter on the final day of the season, so it would be too much to ask for another one, but I see him going seven innings, and allowing one run. He has averaged just over four runs of support per game, and if the Nationals can give him that off of the right-hander Hudson, they should be in good shape.

For the offense, Jayson Werth should have a big game. If you read my post this morning, you saw that Werth has had pretty good success against Hudson. He has a .449 on-base percentage, with 17 hits in 44 at-bats, eight of the hits being for extra bases. Look for Werth to be the key to the offense in today’s must win game for the Nats.

I see the Nationals taking game 2 by a score of 5-2. Werth will drive in a couple runs, and look for Span to get back on track at the plate and get his 59th multi-hit game of the year.

Follow along on Twitter as Pablo Roa will have game updates and look to interact with fans during the game. @DistrictOnDeck