Stephen Strasburg News

After losing to Stephen Strasburg on Thursday night and then blowing an extra-inning game Friday night, the San Diego Padres righted themselves rather nicely against the defending NL East champion Washington Nationals .

The Padres optioned right-handed reliever Brad Brach to Triple-A Tucson Saturday afternoon before hosting the Washington Nationals at Petco Park in the third game of a four-game series.

The Nationals aren't doing themselves any favors. In his last seven starts, ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg has allowed 21 runs.

The Padres begin a crucial seven-game homestand Thursday night against the Washington Nationals and right-handed starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

To compensate for early exits, Jonathan Niese did some extra throwing in his bullpen session.

Coming into his Thursday night start vs the Marlins , Mat Latos had struggled in his previous two starts, giving up 9 earned runs in 11 innings.

The Washington Nationals shut down their ace last year, perhaps costing themselves a World Series championship, but we're supposed to accept it.

Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer to back the longest outing of Stephen Strasburg's young career, as the Washington Nationals took down the San Diego Padres, 6-2, in the opener of a four-game series.

It's been a rare day this season that the Washington Nationals have been able to field a fully functional, Opening Day lineup.

The majority of analysts and fans of the MLB expected the Washington Nationals to build off their success from last season and most likely return to the postseason.

We know Stephen Strasburg can be a stubborn, hard-nosed competitor. We saw it last season when the Washington Nationals insisted on shutting him down early and Strasburg tried every trick in the book to avoid it.

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg has a solid 3.10 ERA on the season but only one win in his eight starts so far.

Matt Harvey, who boasts a 1.44 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched, has yet to record a loss.

After being released by the Padres near the end of spring training, the 36-year-old right-hander signed a minor league contract with Baltimore and was recently promoted to the Orioles after going 4-0 with a 2.67 earned run average in five starts with Triple-A Norfolk of the International League.

Alex Brandon/AP The Nats rotation, led by Stephen Strasburg, left, and Gio Gonzalez, haven't had a pitcher miss a turn because of injury since 2011.

Many baseball observers were skeptical of the Royals' offseason approach, trading super-prospect Wil Myers for James Shields and throwing tons of money at Ervin Santana and Jeremy Guthrie in an attempt to compete for the playoffs right now.

Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson has a somewhat unique problem when it comes to his catching corps.

Continuing on with my personal list of "franchise" players. Keep in mind the criteria: 25 or younger, and currently making $10 million or less in salary.

NOM ACCUSES IRS OF POLITICALLY MOTIVATED THEFT: The National Organization for Marriage renewed its demand that the Internal Revenue Service investigate how the socially conservative group's tax documents ended up in the hands of the pro-gay rights Human Rights Campaign , the American Independent and others in 2012.

Wood posted his eighth consecutive quality start and hit an RBI double, one of six by the team, while Alfonso Soriano belted a two-run homer, and Starlin Castro, Nate Schierholtz and David DeJesus all drove in a pair to lift the Cubs to a 9-1 victory Monday night against the Rockies.