Game 29: Nats at White Sox

The Nationals try to win the series finale, but will do so without late-inning specialist Clayton Beeter, who went on the IL with forearm soreness

CHICAGO – Today marks the long-awaited final day of the Nationals’ 17-day marathon without a break. It’s been a wild ride, but they come into today’s series finale against the White Sox with a chance to emerge from it all with a 9-8 record. Who wouldn’t take that, right?

There are more roster moves today, and one of them is a fairly significant development: Clayton Beeter has been placed on the 15-day IL with right forearm soreness. Scroll down below the lineups for more on that, but the Nats are going to be without their pseudo-closer for at least a couple of weeks. And with Andrés Chaparro sent back to Triple-A Rochester after Saturday’s win, the Nationals recalled two relievers (Andre Granillo, Paxton Schultz) to bring the bullpen back up to eight arms.

Blake Butera would love to not need to go to his bullpen until late in this one, because that would mean Foster Griffin once again provided quality and quantity. The left-hander has been the most consistently effective member of the rotation so far this season, and though he continues to benefit from unfamiliarity of the hitters he faces, there’s an interesting twist to that today: White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami actually has faced Griffin while the two played in Japan.

Chicago is once again going with left-handed reliever Bryan Hudson as the opener, same as Friday night, before turning the game over to former Maryland Terrapins right-hander Sean Burke. Butera is starting Curtis Mead at first base and batting him second to counter the Hudson move. We’ll see what happens after that, though, because Luis García Jr. is the designated hitter and could only replace Mead in the field if the Nats are willing to give up the DH for the rest of the game.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Where: Rate Field
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 55 degrees, wind 11 mph left to right

NATIONALS
RF James Wood
1B Curtis Mead
LF Daylen Lile
3B Brady House
SS CJ Abrams
CF Jacob Young
DH Luis García Jr.
2B Nasim Nuñez
C Drew Millas

LHP Foster Griffin

WHITE SOX
2B Chase Meidroth
3B Miguel Vargas
1B Munetaka Murakami
DH Everson Pereira
SS Colson Montgomery
LF Tanner Murray
RF Derek Hill
C Drew Romo
CF Luisangel Acuña

LHP Bryan Hudson

BEETER GETTING MRI ON FOREARM
The Nationals are hopeful Clayton Beeter’s forearm injury isn’t serious, but they sent the right-hander to get an MRI this morning in hopes of getting a more concrete diagnosis. He hadn’t pitched in a game since Tuesday, though he did briefly warm up Friday night when there was a chance he’d be needed in the bottom of the ninth.

Beeter has made 10 appearances this season, posting a 3.48 ERA and 1.258 WHIP with two saves, though he walked eight batters in 10 1/3 innings.

“The fact that he hadn’t pitched in a handful of days and still feels this a little bit, you wonder if he’s been trying to pitch through it,” manager Blake Butera said. “Because he’s a competitive kid, he wants to be out there. But I think at the end of the day, the responsible thing to do was to put him on the IL – we can backdate it a few days, as well – and just get some imaging and make sure we nip this in the bud.”

With Beeter sidelined for at least two weeks, the Nationals are left to figure out the back end of a bullpen that has few relievers with set roles so far this season. Butera will make late-game decisions based on matchups, with Cionel Pérez, PJ Poulin and Richard Lovelady likely to face left-handed portions of lineups and Gus Varland and Brad Lord (who closed Saturday’s 10-inning win) likely to face right-handed portions.

“I think we have a few different options in terms of just whatever the matchups might end up being, whether it’s the eighth or the ninth, and just kind of do it by committee at this point,” Butera said. “Whatever pocket of hitters makes sense for each pitcher we have, we’ll communicate that with these guys and make sure we attack it that way.”