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Washington Nationals’ lineup for series finale with the St. Louis Cardinals: Nats attempt to avoid sweep...

Washington has dropped three straight in St. Louis and four in a row overall. Will they avoid a sweep tonight in Busch Stadium.

By Patrick Reddington
Washington Nationals v St Louis Cardinals Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Bryce Harper, who clubbed his 30th home run of the 2018 campaign Tuesday night, has been swinging it well since the All-Star Break, with seven doubles, seven home runs, 13 walks, and 19 runs scored in 24 games so far in the second half, over which he’s 28 for 83 (.337 AVG). His turnaround actually began before the Break, however.

As mentioned in the Washington Nationals’ pregame notes for tonight’s game, since June 21st, the 25-year-old outfielder is 45 for 157 (.287/.430/.586) with 14 doubles, 11 home runs, 38 walks, and 58 Ks in the last 47 games, taking him from a .213/.352/.469 line on 6/21 to a .239/.379/.510 line after a 2 for 4 game in last night’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ryan Zimmerman, since a 58-game DL stint on July 20th, is 20 for 56 (.357/.431/.696) with seven doubles and four home runs in 65 plate appearances.

Daniel Murphy, since July 1st, has put up a .355/.401/.556 line with seven doubles, six home runs, 11 walks, and 10 Ks in 37 games and 137 PAs, and he’s struck out just three times in his last 14 games and 52 PAs.

Veteran catcher Matt Wieters, who missed 50 games between May 9th and July 10th, has put up a .306/.341/.444 line (11 for 36, two doubles, one home run) so far in August.

Juan Soto has just been hitting the whole time since he came up. He’s awesome.

Is this going to be one of those seasons where everything starts to click and the offense is firing on all cylinders right after the Nationals are out of it? Davey Martinez talked after last night’s loss about just continuing to grind out games while they wait to see how it all plays out.

“We’ve just got to keep grinding,” Martinez said.

“We’ve got some good players, good hitters, just keep working good at bats, our pitching will get straightened out. Our bullpen is beat up a little bit, so we start getting those guys back and healthy, things can happen. Things can happen fast.”

First step? Avoid getting swept by the Cardinals in the series finale in Busch Stadium.

HERE’S WASHINGTON’S LINEUP FOR THE 4TH OF 4 IN ST. LOUIS:

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