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Washington Nationals’ lineup for series opener with Oakland A’s: Sorry, no Bryce Harper...

No Bryce Harper for Washington in the first two of three games in Oakland, but the Nationals try to make if four in a row in the series opener with the A’s.

By Patrick Reddington
MLB: Washington Nationals at San Francisco Giants John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Bryce Harper is serving the second game of his three-game suspension tonight, so sorry A’s fans, no Bryce Harper for you. Thank that Hunter Strickland guy. Sadly, his command was not as sharp as usual in the series opener in San Francisco earlier on Washington’s current road trip.

Dusty Baker and the Nationals will have to make do without their 24-year-old slugger, who has posted a .328/.438/.655 line with 12 doubles and 15 HRs in 47 games and 208 plate appearances, over which he’s put up 179 wRC+ so far this season, and has been worth 2.7 fWAR.

Baker talked on Wednesday night, when Harper sat out his first game of the three-game suspension he received for charging the mound, throwing his helmet, and then throwing punches at Strickland in what turned into an wild on-field brawl, about how he would line things up with his everyday right fielder unavailable.

“I’ll probably — I’m going to DH a couple of these guys,” Baker said.

“Like mainly Jayson Werth at least one of these days, and I’m going to have Adam Lind go and play some outfield, work out more, he’ll probably get one of the starts in left field even though that’s a big sun field, left field. I’ve played left field, left field there is a very tough left field.

“It’s tough early and then right field is extremely tough later, so I’m going to have to school [Brian Goodwin] and him on the perils of playing outfield in Oakland.”

Lind started his first game in left field since 2010 last weekend against San Diego.

He’s 18 for 53 (.340/.400/.604) with five doubles and three home runs this season, after he signing a 1-year/$1.5M deal with Washington this winter.

Goodwin is 5 for 25 early this season in sporadic work. He filled in for Harper in right in the series finale in San Francisco, going 0 for 4 in his fifth start of the year.

Lind is the DH for the series opener.

Goodwin is back in right tonight.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE SERIES OPENER WITH THE A’s:

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