Washington Nationals’ lineup for second of four with New York Mets: Triceps issue for Ryan Zimmerman...

Dusty Baker fielded what he described as his “6:00 AM arrival lineup” last night in the series opener with the New York Mets. He and the Nationals arrived back in D.C. early on Friday morning after a long flight back from Houston, so Baker decided to give his regulars a night off.

After the Nats dropped the series opener to the Mets, Baker talked about his options for the second game of four with New York in the nation’s capital.

Daniel Murphy, who has dominated his former team since signing with Washington as a free agent, went 0 for 5 with a strikeout last night, leaving him 49 for 126 against New York in his time with the Nationals, and 4 for 23 in his last six games.

Baker said last night that he thought Murphy looked tired, so he would likely get a day off today, and the Nationals’ skipper also revealed that Ryan Zimmerman, who got the night off last night, injured his shoulder late in the finale with the Astros on Thursday in Minute Maid Park.

“[Murphy is] just weary right now,” Baker said, “and so he’s off tomorrow, I told him, ‘I need you in there tonight,’ so I told him, ‘We’ll give you off tomorrow for sure and we’ll have all the guys back in the lineup probably except Zim because he was unavailable tonight because I think he hurt his arm or shoulder — and he really couldn’t swing — on the headfirst slide yesterday into the plate, so we were shorthanded tonight and we hope that — I don’t anticipate he’ll be much better tomorrow, but hopefully on Sunday.”

No one, no one wants to hear about Zimmerman dealing with shoulder issue given his history and all the injuries the Nationals have dealt with this season, but as of now, no additional information is available as to how serious an issue it is for the first baseman.

Zimmerman went 3 for 24 with a home run on the recently-completed road trip to San Diego and Houston, leaving him with a .300/.351/.568 line on the season.

Adam Lind starts at first today after going 2 for 4 with a home run in last night’s series opener.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR TODAY’S MATCHUP WITH THE METS: