If you expected any sense of relief from Mike Rizzo that Stephen Strasburg's shutdown day had finally arrived - albeit five starts earlier than anticipated - think again. The Nationals general manager painted Saturday's announcement that his prized right-hander had thrown his last pitch with resolution rather than resignation. "Business as usual," Rizzo said at the end of a conversation with reporters following the news that Strasburg would not pitch again in 2012. "It's a plan we put...

Nationals manager Davey Johnson's announcement that Stephen Strasburg has thrown his final pitch in 2012 caught many off guard. Just last night, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope that his shortened outing against the Marlins might prod the Nationals to scrap plans for the right-hander's final start to be Sept. 12 at Citi Field versus the Mets. Instead, the Nats moved to distance themselves from the intense spotlight surrounding their unprecedented plan to shut down their ace in the...

Citing media speculation more intense that they could have imagined and a lack of effectiveness in recent starts, the Nationals have decided to shut down right-hander Stephen Strasburg effective immediately, manager Davey Johnson said this morning. "I just told Stephen his year is over," Johnson said in his morning session with reporters before today's 1:05 p.m. game against the Miami Marlins. "He's had a great year. I know what he's gone through nationally the last couple of weeks. The...

Fresh off of a 10-inning loss, the Nationals will get set to bounce back as they enjoy an afternoon game against the Marlins. Jesus Flores will be behind the plate and bat in the eighth slot, as he'll work with the left-hander Ross Detwiler as the Nats look for win No. 86. Flores replaces Kurt Suzuki in the lineup. For the Nationals: Werth RF Harper CF Zimmerman 3B Morse LF LaRoche 1B Desmond SS Espinosa 2B Flores C Detwiler LHP

The Marlins challenged the arm of Bryce Harper late in the game and came up short. In the ninth inning, on a short fly out to mid-center field, Harper fired home to catcher Kurt Suzuki. Greg Dobbs slid right into Suzuki's tag. Suzuki held the ball with two hands, one inside the glove, and blocked the plate with his right foot. The ball beat the runner by three to five feet and Suzuki easily tagged him out. "Harp has got a good arm," Suzuki said. "It wasn't hit fairly deep. But, who...

Some fans and media pundits wondered why the Nationals waited so long to tell Stephen Strasburg about their plan to shut him down. They questioned the Nats' decision to keep Strasburg out of the loop and implied that it was a case of mismanaging by the front office and coaching staff. You want to know why the Nats didn't tell Strasburg about the shutdown plan earlier in the season? Because they didn't want that clouding his focus or giving him anything out of the ordinary to think about...

Many times during this season that has the Orioles just one game out of first place with 24 games to go, when a reporter has posed a question to Buck Showalter heaping praise in his direction, Showalter has turned that around and said "it's about the players." But during this Yankees series, with more reporters than usual in the clubhouse, several players have been asked about the O's season and several players have said something like "we've got a pretty good manager." Adam Jones was...

The Orioles were 31-19 without Jason Hammel, further illustrating how they keep finding replacements and reinforcements. They had to call their first audible during workouts at Ed Smith Stadium and they haven't stopped. Manager Buck Showalter planned on making left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada - remember him? - the No. 2 starter when the Orioles broke camp. Wada hasn't thrown a single pitch for them and is recovering from ligament-reconstructive surgery on his left elbow. Nolan Reimold was...

Wei-Yin Chen said he is not wearing down as a long season comes closer to its end. He said that had nothing to do with his poor outing tonight where he allowed seven runs over 4 2/3 innings, as the Yankees beat the Orioles 8-5 at Camden Yards. "I'm not tired at all. The last couple of starts I've felt really strong. Physically and mentally I feel strong, too. Those three home runs was my problem. That's it," he said through his interpreter. "Physically I feel pretty strong for the first...

Manager Buck Showalter isn't worried about Wei-Yin Chen's final line tonight or the possibility that the Taiwanese left-hander is running out of gas during the final month of the regular season. "I'll tell you, he had good stuff," Showalter said after the Orioles' 8-5 loss to the Yankees at Camden Yards. "You've just got to give them some credit. He didn't make many mistakes, and the ones he did, they obviously made him pay for it. We all know we live in a results-oriented sports...