ed. -- You can forget Nick Johnson going to the Red Sox. Pittsburgh just traded Adam LaRoche to the Sawx for two non-descript minor leaguers.
Craig Stammen hopes to follow in John Lannan's footsteps tonight, on the heels of Lannan's seven-hit, no-walk shut out of the Triple-A Mets.
As a side note, the last time the Nats won two games in a row was July 4-5 against the Braves, when Lannan and Olsen went back-to-back.
For what it's worth, Mets starter Mike Pelfrey was hammered last time out (4.1 IP, nine earned runs).
NEW YORK METS (44-49, 4th in NL East -- 10 games back; one-game losing streak)
Pagan – CF
Castillo – 2B
Murphy – 1B
Wright – 3B (4-for-30 (.200) last seven games)
Francoeur – RF
Sullivan – LF
Berroa – SS
Schneider – C
Pelfrey – P
WASHINGTON NATIONALS (27-66, 5th in NL East -- 27 games back; one-game winning streak)
Morgan – CF
Guzman – SS
Zimmerman – 3B
Dunn – LF
Johnson – 1B
Willingham – RF
Belliard – 2B
Bard – C
Stammen – P
STARTING PITCHERS
WAS: Craig Stammen (66.2 IP, 2-5, 4.46 ERA, 29 K, 13 BB)
NYM: Mike Pelfrey (103.0 IP, 7-5, 5.07 ERA, 54 K, 37 BB)
WEATHER
Warm & humid, 25% chance of passing shower. First pitch: 84F. Final out: 76F.
