Nats (8-7) at Cardinals (8-8)

[Jollay]

John Lannan against Jake Westbrook tonight. Nats miss Chris Carpenter in this series, which is good, although Jamie Garcia and Kyle Lohse, who the Nats get in games two and three, have been very good.

Things have gotten a little chippy between the teams despite Tony LaRussa and Jim Riggleman being friends, the most recent time being this spring when Nyjer Morgan clipped Queen Albert running to first, and several beanballs ensued afterwards.

Cards have been playing much better recently despite having major closing problems. Can the Nats starters continue making this into a decent team?