Washington Rolls In, Nova v Rodriguez & Notes

Today: The game starts at 7:05. The Pirates-Nats are the Monday Night Baseball game on ESPN and can also be heard on 93.7 The Fan. Washington is struggling (though not nearly like the Pirates) and are 45-44, five games off the NL East pace.

Pitchers: RHP Ivan Nova (4-6, 4.48) opens against RHP Jefry Rodriguez (0-0, 5.52). Ivan will try to keep it in the park tonight after being torched for five dingers by the Dodgers in his last outing, ruining a string of solid performances. This maybe not the ideal club to bounce back against; Nova gave up eight runs (five earned) when he faced them in early May. The 24-year-old Rodriguez was called up to the show for the first time in June. His last two appearances have been as a starter and he's given up nine runs in nine innings during that time, with both home run and control issues.

Ivan Nova (photo AT&T SportsNet)

Lineup: Corey Dickerson LF, Starling Marte CF, Gregory Polanco RF, Colin Moran 3B, Fran Cervelli C, David Freese 1B, Josh Harrison 2B, Max Moroff SS & Nova P. Jordy gets a break after going 4-for-27 since June 30th and J-Bell gets a sit-down. Bell far-and-away leads the team in games played (89) while Mercer is second (tied with Corey D and Red Beard at 80). Corey D will replace Bell at leadoff; he's probably the better choice all along.

Notes:

• When Felipe Vázquez was named to the All-Star team, it was the sixth time in the last eight seasons that a Pirates closer has repped the Bucs. He joins Joel Hanrahan (2011-12), Jason Grilli (2013) and Mark Melancon (2015-16) in that gang.
• Starling Marte has eight assists this season, tied for the NL lead among outfielders this season. Starting with the 2014 season, Marte’s 53 assists are tops among all MLB outfielders.
• From Noah Hiles of 93.7 The Fan: During his Sunday show, Neal Huntington said "Some of the moves that we have made haven’t worked the way we anticipated...Ultimately this is the club I put together and I am accountable for it." But NH noted later that "We do have a good young core here."
• WV Power SS Oneil Cruz was named the South Atlantic League's Player of the Month for June. Cruz posted a .375 BA with three home runs and 19 RBI in June with a .606 slugging % and 1.025 OPS.