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WASHINGTON -- Tanner Roark will start Game 2 for the Washington Nationals in their National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The game, scheduled for Sunday, was originally slated for Saturday before being rained out. It's the spot that very likely would have gone to Stephen Strasburg, but he is out for the NLDS after hurting his pitching elbow late in the regular season. On Friday, before the Nationals' 4-3 loss in Game 1, he had his first bullpen session off a mound since being sidelined. For the right-handed Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA), the assignment announced Friday represents the latest sign of an impressive return to starting in 2016 after being relegated to the bullpen last season. Lefty Rich Hill (3-2, 1.84 ERA in six starts for L.A. after a trade from Oakland) will pitch Game 2 for the Dodgers. "Emotions already are pretty high right now. ... If you're not nervous, you're not human and you don't care, I feel like," said Roark, who was told Thursday he would pitch in Game 2. "So for me, being nervous is a good thing." The choice of Roark was not all that surprising, and Nationals manager Dusty Baker smiled broadly as he joked to media members before Game 1: "Well, you know, we weren't debating that much. We were just kind of messing with you guys, to tell you the truth." In a tweak to his batting order, Baker flipped Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth, moving up 2015 NL MVP Harper from No. 3 to No. 2 and shifting Werth from No. 2 to No. 3. "I just talked to them out of respect," Baker said, "but they said, 'Hey, Skip, whatever you want to do, and whatever you think that's best, that's what you do." Both teams officially released their 25-man NLDS rosters, and Washington's includes only seven relievers, including three lefties. Baker said he wanted extra position players on the bench because of the possible need for pinch runners, particularly for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who last started Sept. 17 because of a strained glute muscle. Reynaldo Lopez is the only long reliever in the bullpen, while Sammy Solis, Oliver Perez and Marc Rzepczynski are the lefties; Sean Burnett is the odd man out. Infielder Wilmer Difo and outfielder Michael Taylor made the roster, while relievers Burnett, Matt Belisle and Yusmeiro Petit and outfielders Ben Revere and Brian Goodwin were left off. "We contemplated many, many different scenarios," Baker said. The Dodgers' roster had, as promised, three catchers: Carlos Ruiz, Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes, who can also play in the infield. L.A. also has only seven relievers. The Game 3 starting pitchers are lefty Gio Gonzalez for Washington and righty Kenta Maeda for Los Angeles.
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