Lineups 8/5
Marlins:
Coghlan – LF
Johnson – 1B
Ramirez – SS
Cantu – 3B
Uggla – 2B
Ross – RF
Paulino – C
Bonifacio – CF
VandenHurk – P (RHP, 1-0, 2.65)
Nationals:
Morgan – CF
Guzman – SS
Zimmerman – 3B
Dunn – 1B
Willingham – LF
Dukes – RF
Belliard – 2B
Nieves – C
Lannan – P (LHP, 7-8, 3.41)
Pitching notes:
John Lannan has allowed three earned runs or less in 17 of his last 20 starts. In that same 20-start span beginning on April 17th, he is 7-6 with a 2.96 ERA (44 ER/133.2 IP).
Lannan is a ground-ball specialist. He paced the Majors with 87 ground balls induced in July and ranks among NL leaders in GDPs induced (MLB-best 20), ground ball-to-fly ball ratio (6th at 2.08/1) and ground balls induced (4th with 262). He is averaging 11.9 ground balls per start and 1.9 more than last season’s average of 10.0.
Rick VandenHurk is making his second career start against the Nats. He got the loss in his only other start, September 3, 2007 at RFK Stadium. In that game he surrendered six runs on eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts over 5.1 innings.
