The Nats get set for game No. 2 against the Phillies tonight at Nationals Park. Hometown kid Justin Maxwell gets the start in CF while Josh Bard moves back into the lineup at catcher. Starter Garrett Mock must find some way to navigate through Philadelphia’s potent lineup. The 26-year-old had a strong August and put himself in the mix for a starting job next season. But he has to rebound from an ugly three-inning, six-run effort against the Marlins last week.
If Mock could find some way to get Phillies OF Raul Ibanez out that would be an added bonus. No one on Washington’s pitching staff has done that yet. A lot of people made fun of Philadelphia’s front office when they let OF Pat Burrell go and signed the 37-year-old Ibanez – myself included. He has 30 homers and ranks among the best hitters in the National League. Burrell? He’s in Tampa having his worst season since 2003 with 13 homers and 57 RBI and a .722 OPS. That’s why Ruben Amaro is GM of the Phillies and I’m not. Add in the moves to get Pedro Martinez and Cliff Lee and Amaro has to be the favorite for Executive of the Year in the National League.
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Phillies:
Rollins – SS Victorino – CF
Utley – 2B
Howard – 1B
Ibanez – LF
Werth – RF
Feliz – 3B
Bako – C
Lee – P
Nationals:
Maxwell – CF Guzman – SS
Dunn – 1B
Zimmerman – 3B
Willingham – LF
Dukes – RF
Bard – C
Gonzalez – 2B
Mock – P
