“Let’s play two,” Ernie Banks used to say, but he wasn’t referring to a split-squad two-game set. Stephen Strasburg makes his spring training debut in a 1:05pm home game against the St. Louis Cardinals against Michael Wacha. In Jupiter, A.J. Cole pitches against the Miami Marlins also at 1:05pm.
Both Nats games are on the radio with the road feed. These will be the 7th and 8th games for the Nationals on the Grapefruit League schedule.
In Thursday’s 13-1 thumping of the Houston Astros, the Nats hit for two team cycles. Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rendon all homered for the Nats. Adam Eaton and Wilmer Difo both tripled, and Trea Turner, Jayson Werth, and Jhonatan Solano all had doubles, and the Nats add 10 more singles in an 18-hit game. Jhonatan Solano was 3-for-4 and actually lowered his batting average to .800. Werth was 2-for-2 with that home run and double to go with a walk.
“It feels good,” Jayson Werth said. “Everything’s been good as far as swinging goes. Hopefully, I can just hang on to whatever I’ve got going on right now.”
“He’s way ahead of where he was before,” Dusty Baker said about Jayson Werth. “That’s indicative of how … he told me he was ready when I talked to him in the winter. And he’s doing the mountain training [in Puerto Rico], and he probably hit more this year than he ever did in the winter. So he’s on a mission. Hey, take us with you!”
Baker went with a line-up on Thursday that traditionalists penciled in with Trea Turner at lead-off followed by Adam Eaton, Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and Jayson Werth in the 6-hole. This line-up was a divergence from what Dusty told the media about his line-up construction 3 days ago. Kyle McGowin was good in his start going 2 innings, and Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen, and Sammy Solis all pitched an inning each of no run baseball for their first appearances of the season.
Today’s line-ups are:
Road line-up versus the Marlins in Jupiter: Eaton 8, Drew 4, Lind 3, Robinson 7, Snyder 5, Lobaton 2, Burriss 6, Stevenson 9, Soto DH, Cole RHP
Home line-up versus the Cardinals in West Palm Beach: Turner 6, Murphy 4, Harper 9, Werth DH, Rendon 5, Zimmerman 3, Severino 2, Taylor 8, Goodwin 7, Strasburg RHP
