The Washington Nationals offense sputtered in the first game of the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants, producing only six hits and two runs on a pair of solo homers in the seventh inning.
But one game of ineffectiveness wasn’t enough to warrant change. Manager Matt Williams will field the same starting lineup in Saturday’s Game 2 that he has used for much of the past month, and not alter his approach from the dugout, with hopes that a consistent approach will yield better results.
“Regardless of result yesterday doesn’t mean that you do anything differently today,” Williams said. “Our objective is to score one more run than they do, and that’s all we focus on every day. So no, there’s no difference in today’s game as opposed to yesterday’s, win, lose or draw. Doesn’t matter for us. We need to win today’s game. If we were able to win yesterday’s game, it would be the same approach.”
The only difference for the Nationals in Saturday’s lineup is on the mound. Jordan Zimmermann will take the ball after pitching the team’s first no-hitter in his last start Sunday. The Nationals have won each of Zimmermann’s past 11 starts.
The Giants will start right-hander Tim Hudson, who is 18-5 with a 2.35 earned-run average against the Nationals in his career. He has given up three earned runs in his past five starts against Washington.
“You have to get to him early,” first baseman Adam LaRoche said. “Huddy, throughout his career, he is known for once he gets past the third, fourth inning and settles in, he gets to be really tough. If you can get to him the first two, three innings, ideally, it is huge. Not to say he can’t be beat after that, but once he gets rolling, he’s good. Really good.”
SEE ALSO: Rusty Nationals can’t match Giants’ edge in Game 1 of NLDS
The full lineups for Saturday’s game are below:
Washington Nationals
1. CF Denard Span
2. 3B Anthony Rendon
3. RF Jayson Werth
SEE ALSO: Nationals’ near-misses in playoff opener turn Game 2 into day of desperation
4. 1B Adam LaRoche
5. SS Ian Desmond
6. LF Bryce Harper
7. C Wilson Ramos
8. 2B Asdrubal Cabrera
9. RHP Jordan Zimmermann
San Francisco Giants
1. CF Gregor Blanco
2. 2B Joe Panik
3. C Buster Posey
4. 3B Pablo Sandoval
5. RF Hunter Pence
6. 1B Brandon Belt
7. SS Brandon Crawford
8. LF Travis Ishikawa
9. RHP Tim Hudson
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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