Lineup, Notes

RHP James McDonald (2-2, 2.42) goes up against the Nat's RHP Jordan Zimmermann (2-3, 2.14). J-Mac has been a beast lately, going 29 IP with 33 K and a 1.86 ERA in his past four starts. Zimmerman has been tough, too, with his record more indicative of Washington's weak offense rather than so-so pitching. The game starts at 7:05 and will aired on Root Sports.

The lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Garrett Jones RF, Casey McGehee 1B, Rod Barajas C, Josh Harrison SS, James McDonald P.

After a 3-RBI night, Harrison gets the nod at short.

• J-Mac has received a total of 13 runs of support when he's in the game during his first seven starts, and nine of those came in one game. So in his other six starts he's gotten four runs scored behind him.
• Since the beginning of last year, Neil Walker has put up a .992 fielding percentage, which ranks second in the Majors among second basemen behind Mark Ellis (.996). He has two errors in 188 chances this season and a 6.0 UZR/150.
• Josh Harrison is 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position this season.
• Jared Hughes enters today with the lowest ERA (1.31) among all rookie pitchers in the Majors.
• Jim Shonerd of Baseball America features West Virginia SS Alen Hanson in the Prospect Blog, and questions whether he can field the position as he moves along.
• Keith Law of ESPN released his first mock draft of the year today. With the eighth overall pick, Law has SS Deven Marrero of Arizona State going to the Pirates. So does Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. Ditto for Baseball America’s mock draft last week. Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects has the analysis.
• Jamie Romak, a part of the Adam LaRoche deal who never panned out in the Pittsburgh organization, had his contract bought by Saint Louis from KC. The 26 year old is playing AAA ball and still hasn't conquered upper level pitching, batting .147 in limited playing time this season.