Game 120: Mets at Nats

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The Nationals try to improve to 30 games over .500 tonight against the Mets.

Considering Bryce Harper just had his best offensive performance in weeks, going 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk, you might have been surprised when Davey Johnson revealed after last night's game the rookie wouldn't be in tonight's lineup. Johnson, though, had been planning that day off all along for Harper, and he's planning to give him even more of them over the remainder of the season.

"He had a great game," Johnson said. "Just relax. Catch your breath. Let me let some of the other guys get into it."

So Tyler Moore will get the start tonight in left field, with Jayson Werth shifting to center field and Michael Morse shifting to right field. Look for more lineup finagling in the coming days as Johnson tries to find opportunities to keep Moore, Steve Lombardozzi and Roger Bernadina fresh.

As for tonight's game, Edwin Jackson is on the mound, looking to bounce back from a bit of a ragged start last week in Arizona (though he did still earn the win that night). Left-hander Jon Niese pitches for the Mets.

Plenty of updates to come, so please check back...

NEW YORK METS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 89
Weather: Clear, 81 degrees, Wind 7 mph in from CF

NATIONALS (74-45)
CF Jayson Werth
2B Danny Espinosa
3B Ryan Zimmerman
RF Michael Morse
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
LF Tyler Moore
C Jesus Flores
RHP Edwin Jackson

METS (56-63)
SS Ruben Tejada
RF Mike Baxter
3B David Wright
1B Ike Davis
2B Daniel Murphy
LF Jordany Valdespin
CF Andres Torres
C Josh Thole
LHP Jon Niese

UMPIRES
HP Marvin Hudson
1B Jordan Baker
2B Ted Barrett (cc)
3B Brian Runge

7:07 p.m. -- We are underway on an absolutely gorgeous night in the nation's capital. 81 degrees and barely any hint of humidity as Edwin Jackson starts off Ruben Tejada with a fastball for strike one.

7:12 p.m. -- Jackson pitches his way around a one-out triple by Mike Baxter to keep the Mets from scoring in the top of the first. Have to give an assist to Ryan Zimmerman, who made another nifty grab of David Wright's smoked grounder to third and nearly tagged Baxter out before throwing to first for the out.

7:25 p.m. -- A couple of hits from Danny Espinosa and Zimmerman in the bottom of the first, setting the table for the big boys in the Nats lineup. But Michael Morse flied out to right and Adam LaRoche's wheels weren't quite fast enough to beat out a grounder to second. So it remains scoreless after one.

7:35 p.m. -- Good stuff from Jackson so far. He struck out a pair in the top of the second, both on swings and misses, and has needed only 28 pitches to get through two scoreless innings.

7:48 p.m. -- Man, does Jackson have a devastating slider tonight, or what? He's struck out four of the last six batters, three on sliders, and has completed three scoreless innings.

8:05 p.m. -- Jackson's dominance continues in the top of the fourth as he strikes out another pair. That's six total strikeouts for the game, all of them coming in a span of nine batters, all of them swinging. The right-hander really has displayed a killer fastball-slider combo so far tonight, keeping the Mets completely off-guard. Not that the Nats lineup is doing much of anything against Niese. They've compiled only those two first-inning singles so far, so this remains a 0-0 game in the middle of the fourth.

8:21 p.m. -- I assume somebody will score before this game ends, right? Because nobody has seriously threatened yet, and we've reached the halfway point of the game. Jackson just needed all of 10 pitches to finish off a 1-2-3 fifth inning. He's got seven strikeouts now, still all of them swinging. And the game is still scoreless.

8:37 p.m. -- Make it 10 strikeouts (and zero walks) for Jackson through six scoreless innings. Complete dominance from the right-hander tonight. Now, if only his teammates could scratch out one run off Niese...

8:49 p.m. -- They couldn't do it in the bottom of the sixth. Espinosa beat out a slow dribbler to lead off the inning but was stranded at first base. Zimmerman sent a long flyball to the warning track, Morse struck out for the second time tonight and LaRoche was robbed of a hit (possibly extra bases) by Ike Davis' nifty scoop at first. Onto the seventh inning of a scoreless game.

8:58 p.m. -- Well, that just changed in a hurry. Jackson walked Wright to lead off the seventh, nearly taking his head off on ball four. Then Davis crushed the very next pitch into the left-field bullpen for a two-run homer. Just like that, the Mets have taken a 2-0 lead despite only two hits tonight. And just like that, the Nats find themselves needing to score at least two runs before making nine outs.

9:01 p.m. -- On a brighter note: A sellout crowd of 42,662 (second-largest in Nationals Park history) paid to attend a pennant race game tonight instead of staying home to watch exhibition football. Well done, everyone.

9:05 p.m. -- If I told you Edwin Jackson's final line would read: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 1 HR ... you'd probably take that, right? What if I told you that wouldn't be good enough to earn the win? A great start wasted. Ryan Mattheus in for the eighth, the Nats still down 2-0.

9:15 p.m. -- Well, Terry Collins just pulled Jon Niese one out into the eighth. This would probably be an appropriate time to point out the Mets bullpen has a 5.05 ERA, worst in the majors. Jon Rauch in to face Werth.

9:22 p.m. -- No rally in the eighth as Rauch retires Werth and Espinosa. So the Nats are down to their final three outs. They still trail 2-0 as we head to the ninth.

9:33 p.m. -- Last chance for the Nats. Frank Francisco on the mound. Zimmerman, Morse and LaRoche due up.

9:42 p.m. -- That'll do it. A very frustrating 2-0 loss for the Nationals before a sellout crowd that waited all night to explode and never got the opportunity to do it.