Murphy drops to eighth as Braves take aim at Patrick Corbin

As the Braves take aim at southpaw Patrick Corbin on Friday night, Sean Murphy is back in the lineup but all the way down at the eighth spot.

The last time Murphy hit eighth was back on April 2, also in Washington. He hit fifth on Opening Day, didn’t start the second game of that series, and then dropped to eighth in the third game. He then quickly moved up and hit cleanup much of the first part of the season.

For the Nationals, Dominic Smith returns to the lineup. Keibert Ruiz moves back behind the plate with Joey Meneses shifting to DH.