It is almost time to begin the Tommy John clock for right-hander Lucas Giolito. Appearing on the "Holden & Danny Show" on Wednesday on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo confirmed that first-round selection Giolito will likely need Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow. "It looks like he is going to need Tommy John surgery," Rizzo said on "The Mike Rizzo Show." "He has seen our medical people. We're going to give him a second...

After last night's outing, Stephen Strasburg has now thrown 145 1/3 innings this season, nearly 22 more than he's put up in either of his two prior professional seasons. Is the hard-throwing right-hander starting to tire at all? If you watched him work last night, you can probably guess the answer. "No, it's a tribute to the program that I've been on," Strasburg said. "It's really helped me get stronger and I think I've been able to refine my mechanics as the season went on. I feel...

It's impossible to avoid the name Stephen Strasburg upon mention of the Washington Nationals these days. Everyone around the country from sportscasters to politicians to your average Joe wants to weigh in and share their two cents about why they feel the Nationals' ace shouldn't be shut down later this season due to a post-Tommy John surgery innings limit. I, for one, just have to say it - I'm sick of hearing and having to talk about Strasburg. He's not the only guy on the team. For the...

Maybe the best advice for Orioles fans at this point is just to enjoy the heck out of this improbable season while not trying to explain any of it. How could you explain some of this: * When the club's best starter, Jason Hammel, went on the disabled list on July 15, the Orioles were 46-42 and their starters' ERA was 4.74. Without him, the team is 21-14 and the starters' ERA has gone down to 4.68. * On May 1, Chris Tillman had an ERA of 5.63 and batting average against of .287 - in...

As you might imagine, Stephen Strasburg was the talk of the Nationals' clubhouse after this one. "He was totally locked in tonight," catcher Jesus Flores said. "I love it. He was hitting my spots. We were pitching a lot inside to those guys and then the breaking ball was so effective to them that they (were) pretty much swinging at everything." "He was on," shortstop Ian Desmond said. "He was just painting. Had everything working. It was fun to watch. Changuep, curveball, fastball....

If tonight's rain delay had lasted longer than an hour, Davey Johnson said he was going to pull Stephen Strasburg from the game. That was the "drop-dead" point for Strasburg, as far as the Nationals' skipper was concerned. I guess it's a good thing the delay was just 51 minutes. Strasburg stepped back on the mound after the rain delay, which hit Nats Park in the top of the third inning, and immediately got into a zone. He wasn't bad before heavy rain forced the stoppage, giving up two...

Didn't we spend a chunk of the winter debating whether Jim Johnson should be a starter instead of the closer? Didn't manager Buck Showalter suggest that Johnson could make some starts last September, or be placed on a starter's schedule in spring training? Will we have the same argument and hear the same talk this winter? I'll say again that Johnson is my choice for Most Valuable Oriole. His 38 saves rank second on the club's all-time single-season list. He's tied with Fernando Rodney...

Shortstop Ian Desmond went 0-for-11 in his return from a left oblique strain that forced him to miss 25 games on the disabled list. But in the last two games Desmond has returned to his All-Star form with home runs in his first at-bat. Desmond smacked a two-run shot off of Braves' starter Tim Hudson in the first inning Monday, capping a four-run inning that gave the Nationals a 4-1 lead. He finished with two hits in the 13-inning marathon. On Tuesday, with rain pouring down, Desmond...

If the Orioles are going to win tonight's game against the Rangers, they will need their bullpen to step up again. Darren O'Day tripped after replacing Chris Tillman with two outs in the seventh. He walked Ian Kinsler and gave up a single to Elvis Andrus. Pedro Strop replaced O'Day with Josh Hamilton representing the go-ahead run. He fell behind 2-0 on 97 and 96 mph fastballs, got a called strike with a 97 mph fastball, fell behind 3-1 with a 98 mph fastball and threw three straight...

Nate McLouth isn't your prototypical No. 3 hitter, but Nick Markakis shouldn't be batting first if we're playing by those rules. McLouth scored the Orioles' only run tonight in classic small-ball manner. He walked with two outs in the top of the first inning, stole second base, took third on a throwing error by Rangers catcher Geovany Soto and scored on a wild pitch by Scott Feldman. (Yes, I think of the Seinfeld bizarro world episode every time I hear Feldman's name.) Soto didn't do...