FLUSHING, N.Y. - After Stephen Strasburg's last start, in which he allowed four runs and needed 103 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings, Davey Johnson frustratingly commented that his ace right-hander "really doesn't know who he is at times." The reactions to Strasburg's outing today were a little different. "That is the Strasburg I've known for a long time," Johnson said. "That's him. That's what he does." "I caught him before, it was really good," catcher Sandy Leon said....

The Arizona Fall League revealed its organization and staff announcements for the 2012 season, which commences Oct. 9. The Nationals will play with prospects from the Diamondbacks, White Sox, Rockies and Blue Jays for the Salt River Rafters at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Former major league third baseman Matt Williams is the manager and the Nationals will be represented by Mark Grater as the pitching coach. Grater is the Nationals' rehab pitching coordinator in Viera, Fla. The...

The Orioles' lineup tonight against Tampa Bay left-hander David Price includes Taylor Teagarden behind the plate and slumping Matt Wieters batting cleanup and serving as the designated hitter. Wieters is hitting .354/.418/.524 against left-handers. He's 7-for-21 lifetime against Price. Seeking more right-handers to face Price, manager Buck Showalter is inserting Steve Tolleson in left field. However, that leaves left-handed hitting Omar Quintanilla at second base. For the Orioles: Nick...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - What was a comfortable 5-1 ballgame in the eighth inning quickly turned intense. Henry Rodriguez found himself right in the middle of all the action. The righty walked two batters leading off the eighth, and was immediately pulled by Davey Johnson. Rodriguez threw 11 pitches, eight of which were balls. The struggling flame-thrower failed to record an out for the second straight outing. The two walks forced Johnson to go into scramble mode, as he went to a total of four...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Over their last five games entering today, Nationals starters pounded the zone with fastballs, allowing them to keep their pitch counts low and work deep into games. Stephen Strasburg's following suit today. The Nationals righty needed just 48 pitches through four innings of work and now sits at 68 pitches through five, largely because he's challenged Mets hitters today. He worked mainly off his fastball, mixing in his changeup to keep hitters off-balance. Strasburg has...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - There's been some major movement going on in the National League East lately. First, it looked like the Braves were set to acquire Ryan Dempster from the Cubs, only to have that deal apparently fall through when Dempster seemed unwilling to go to Atlanta. Now, the Braves claim they've moved on from Dempster and are looking at other options. Then the Marlins traded Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to the Tigers. Miami followed that deal up by shipping Hanley Ramirez and Randy...

Nationals prospect Anthony Rendon has notched at least a base hit and an RBI in four straight games for the Gulf Coast League Nationals and continues to play deeper into games as the franchise slowly brings him back from his fractured left ankle. Rendon is hitting .444 (4-for-9) in his last four games with a double, two homers and nine RBIs. He has had home runs in back-to-back games. Rendon walked in the top of the eighth Tuesday and then was promptly replaced by a pinch runner. But he...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - It'll be the 10-win Stephen Strasburg against the one-win Jeremy Hefner at Citi Field today as the Nationals and Mets wrap up a three-game set. Twice this season, the Nats have taken the first two games of a series against the Mets only to drop the finale, failing to record the sweep. Today they'll rely on Strasburg as they try to notch their fifth straight victory. In his only career start at Citi Field coming into today, Strasburg fired six scoreless innings, allowing...

Music is an important part of any baseball game, from the playing of the national anthem before the first pitch to the array of songs that accompany the important moments at each game. Think about it - could you imagine a rally without the bugled "Charge" call, a pump-up-the-crowd moment without "YMCA" by The Village People or the individualized snippets that accompany each hitter to the batter's box and each pitcher to the mound? Sometimes, it seems, the melodies fade into the landscape...

Life's pretty busy these days, what with the constant news cycle, work weeks that extend beyond 40 hours even if they shouldn't and the general buzz-buzz-buzz attitude that American culture unintentionally employs upon its citizens. That's why it makes sense that busy folks would be baseball fans. Here's my logic: It's a long season. There are at least 162 games in a season. That allows fans the opportunity to catch up if a game or two (or more) just so happen to be missed. And - just...