As unusual as Stephen Strasburg's start was today, with an eight-minute rain delay disrupting the first inning and the Nationals righty allowing the second-most runs of any start in his career, a bit of information revealed postgame might have been even more bizarre. According to manager Davey Johnson, Strasburg had some "hot stuff" get "misplaced" during his start, which contributed to his struggles on the mound. "It was on his shoulder and evidently ... I don't know how it got to...

It looked like an innocent pop up between left field and right field midway towards the warning track from the first hitter of the game, Padres right fielder Will Venable. Nationals left fielder Roger Bernadina and center fielder Rick Ankiel, as well as right fielder Bryce Harper converged on the fly ball. Bernadina and Ankiel appeared to look down at each other as they tracked the ball and suddenly it fell in front of Bernadina's feet. Venable scampered to second on a double and San Diego...

Outfielder Nolan Reimold said the club will have a better idea later in the week whether he needs a second epidural injection for the herniated disk in his cervical spine. Team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens examined Reimold yesterday, and he'll be checked again within a week. Reimold had his first epidural injection Friday, so it's too early to schedule a second one if it's needed. Reimold still has tingling in his left thumb and forearm, and a "constant aching" in his shoulder and...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said reliever Matt Lindstrom has a slight tear in a ligament in his right middle finger. The good news is it's not a full tear. Dr. Thomas Graham, a specialist based in Cleveland, will re-examine Lindstrom's finger. Lindstrom will stay back in Baltimore while the Orioles play two games in Kansas City. He has no immediate plans to report to extended spring training in Sarasota. Lindstrom sounded optimistic that he'd be ready to come off the disabled list when...

Bryce Harper hit his second home run in as many days. Yeah, that's about all the positive stuff to report coming out of the Nationals' 6-1 loss to the Padres this afternoon. The Nationals couldn't get much of anything done against Padres starter Anthony Bass, who went eight strong innings in his best outing of the season, allowing just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts. Outside of Harper's home run, the Nats only had three runners in scoring position all afternoon (that counts...

Robert Andino is leading off tonight against Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia. Wilson Betemit will play first base, Steve Tolleson will play third, and Xavier Avery will stay in left field and bat ninth. For the Orioles: Robert Andino 2B J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Wilson Betemit 1B Bill Hall DH Steve Tolleson 3B Xavier Avery LF Wei-Yin Chen LHP Zach Britton threw four scoreless innings today at extended spring training, allowing two hits and striking out...

The Triple-A Norfolk Tides put infielder Ryan Adams and pitcher Joel Pineiro on the disabled list today. Adams, who got into 29 games with the Orioles last year, is expected to miss three to five weeks with a fractured right thumb. He was batting .210 this year for the Tides. Pineiro was 1-1 with an ERA of 3.65 over his first two starts for Norfolk and gave up 10 hits and five runs with no walks and nine strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. He is dealing with shoulder soreness. All the roster...

This didn't look like the Stephen Strasburg we've seen much of this season. Strasburg, who entered today with a 1.64 ERA on the year, was clearly battling himself this afternoon against the Padres, stepping off the mound and taking deep breath after deep breath. He didn't have his good stuff, allowing seven hits and four runs before seeing the bullpen door open to begin the fifth inning. It's just the third time in his 25 career starts that Strasburg had failed to pitch into the fifth,...

For about three minutes, Stephen Strasburg was forced to pitch in a downpour with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning. Finally, home plate umpire and crew chief Brian Gorman called for a rain delay and brought the grounds crew onto the field. Nearly as soon as he did so, the rain all but stopped. The tarp never got rolled out, and the players were quickly called back onto the field. We were all set to resume play, only the three base umpires were still in the tunnel. Tony...

The lineup is starting to show a familiar refrain. Ian Desmond and Roger Bernadina. Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and Bryce Harper. Danny Espinosa and Rick Ankiel. The catching spot. The starting pitcher. Johnson said the genesis of this particular starting nine was given boost into motion when he had a conversation with outfielder Roger Bernadina, who was off to a slow start due in part to a lack of consistent at-bats. With the unfortunate injury to Jayson Werth, Johnson was looking to mix...