'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
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Stephen Strasburg struck out eight in seven innings and the Washington Nationals won a game he started for the first time since Opening Day by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 Saturday.
The last pitch Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg threw in Atlanta on Monday night touched 98 miles per hour. But that wasn't enough -- oh, not even close -- to quell the wave of near-panic over his pitching arm's health.
Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg may have irritated a nerve in his right arm using an electrical stimulation machine.
Strasburg played catch Tuesday and went through his usual routine on the day after he pitches, a welcome sight after manager Davey Johnson said Monday night that the right-hander was dealing with forearm tightness.
"We pitch, we don't hit; we hit, we don't pitch," said right fielder Jayson Werth. "They always say you're better lucky than good and we're neither right now."
If the season ended Thursday, the Nationals even with all their "problems" would qualify for the playoffs. Which sounds just as stupid to say now as it does to say the season is already off the rails.
New York Mets ace Matt Harvey will take the mound in one half-inning Friday night at Citi Field, and Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg will take it in another. It's as marquee a matchup of young power arms as there has been thus far this April.
Since the Nationals moved Detwiler back into the starting rotation for good last June, and including the playoffs, he has posted a 2.97 ERA in 121 1/3 innings of work.
At least Washington came out of Friday's disappointment in good physical health. Not so Saturday, as catcher Wilson Ramos injured his left hamstring trying to beat out a ground ball in the eighth.
When it comes to early series, during that period in the baseball season when it's far too soon to read much into results though still fun to try, the Washington Nationals' clash with the Cincinnati Reds was billed as one of the best. What came out in the Nationals' 6-3 loss, though, was one of the worst starts of Stephen Strasburg's career.
If ever there's a person who could use some good fortune, it is Ramos. Saying he had a difficult stretch doesn't do justice to what the young Venezuelan went through.
Not much has changed for Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond when it comes to a possible contract extension. The team is still open to discussing one with Desmond, and Desmond is still open to considering it.
Harper homered in his first two at-bats to account for the only scoring and Strasburg pitched seven shutout innings as the defending NL East champs opened their 2013 campaign.
Washington opened its 2013 season Monday at Nationals Park with a 2-0 victory over the Miami Marlins. No offense to all the others who took part. The day was about The Top Pick Twins and all about The Top Pick Twins.
Monday, more than four years after they earned the right to draft him, the Nationals will send Strasburg to the mound at Nationals Park to open the 2013 season. In many ways, it is the real beginning of the Strasburg Era.
"I was absolutely happy about getting through the seventh inning," Strasburg said. "The biggest thing is to give your team a chance to win the ballgame. Not every game are you going to be lights out and hitting every spot."
Asked after the game why he was shaking his arm, Strasburg said "You just try to stay loose."
