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Nationals' lineup vs Giants: No Anthony Rendon, but he's close to return

The Washington Nationals will be without their no.2 hitter and everyday third baseman for at least one more night, though he could pinch hit tonight if necessary according to Nats' skipper Matt Williams. The lineups for tonight's game are included below...

Denis Poroy

The nation's capital's baseball fans can stop holding their collective breath. According to reports from AT&T Park tonight, where the Washington Nationals are taking on the San Francisco Giants in the first game of a four-game set, Anthony Rendon is close to returning to the lineup after injuring his thumb/forefinger on a grounder the other day in San Diego, CA's Petco Park.

Though the 24-year-old, 2011 1st Round pick is out of the lineup again tonight, Nats' skipper Matt Williams told reporters that he is available to pinch hit and should be able to start tomorrow night's game:

Before he took a grounder off the hand in San Diego, Rendon was starting to heat up at the plate after a rough .212/.292/.323 month of May in which he hit a double, two triples and two home runs in 114 plate appearances. In his last 10 games before the injury, the Nationals' two-hole hitter and third baseman was 14 for 41 (.341/.413/.683) with a triple and four home runs in 46 PAs.

The Nationals will field a Rendon-less lineup once again tonight however, as they send Stephen Strasburg to the mound to take on the Giants and veteran right-hander Ryan Vogelsong.

• Here are the lineups for the first game of four in AT&T Park:

Today's Lineups

WASHINGTON NATIONALS SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Denard Span - CF Gregor Blanco - CF
Kevin Frandsen - 3B Hunter Pence - RF
Jayson Werth - RF Buster Posey - C
Adam LaRoche - 1B Pablo Sandoval - 3B
Ryan Zimmerman - LF Mike Morse - 1B
Wilson Ramos - C Tyler Colvin - LF
Ian Desmond - SS B. Crawford - SS
Danny Espinosa - 2B Brandon Hicks - 2B
S. Strasburg - RHP Ryan Vogelsong - RHP