NATIONAL LEAGUE D4


S EAST Atlanta


W L PCT GB L10 STR 53 36 .596 — 7-3 W-1


xNew York 48 40 .545 4A 4-6 W-1 Philadelphia 47 41 .534 5A 6-4 L-1 Florida


42 46 .477 10A 5-5 W-1 Washington 39 50 .438 14 5-5 L-2 CENTRAL W L PCT GB L10 STR


Cincinnati 49 41 .544 — 4-6 L-4 St. Louis 48 41 .539 A 5-5 W-2 Chicago 40 50 .444 9 6-4 W-1 Milwaukee 40 50 .444 9 4-6 L-1 Houston 36 53 .404 12A 5-5 L-1 Pittsburgh 30 58 .341 18 3-7 L-6


TODAY’S NL GAMES


NATIONALS AT MARLINS, 7:10 W-L ERA TEAM


Strasburg (R) 3-2 2.32 4-3 Nolasco (R) 9-6 4.55 10-8


PHILLIES AT CUBS, 2:20 Blanton (R) 3-5 6.41 6-7 Lilly (L)


ASTROS AT PIRATES, 7:05 Myers (R) Duke (L)


BRAVES 2, BREWERS 1 3-8 4.08 6-9


6-6 3.41 9-9 3-8 5.49 5-9


ROCKIES AT REDS, 7:10 Hammel (R) 7-3 4.08 9-6 Arroyo (R) 9-4 4.04 12-6 BREWERS AT BRAVES, 7:35 Wolf (L)


6-8 4.56 9-10


Hanson (R) 8-5 4.13 13-5 DODGERS AT CARDINALS, 8:15 Billingsley (R) 7-4 4.14 10-6 Garcia (L)


8-4 2.17 8-9


DIAMONDBACKS AT PADRES, 10:05 Haren (R)


7-7 4.36 7-12


Garland (R) 8-6 3.56 11-7 METS AT GIANTS, 10:15 Niese (L) Zito (L)


6-3 3.61 9-6 7-4 3.76 11-7


NL SCORES


at Braves 2 Brewers


1


at Cubs 12 Phillies


6


at Cardinals 7 Dodgers


1 Mets Late at Giants Gm TODAY’S AL GAMES


BLUE JAYS AT ORIOLES, 7:05 W-L ERA TEAM


Romero (L) 6-6 3.71 9-9 Bergesen (R) 3-6 6.40 4-9


TIGERS AT INDIANS, 7:05 Scherzer (R) 6-6 4.61 7-9 Westbrook (R) 5-5 4.75 7-11 RAYS AT YANKEES, 7:05 Shields (R) 7-9 4.87 8-10 Sabathia (L) 12-3 3.09 13-6 RANGERS AT RED SOX, 7:10 Lewis (R)


8-5 3.33 9-8


Doubront (L) 1-1 4.22 1-1 ATHLETICS AT ROYALS, 8:10 Gonzalez (L) 7-6 3.79 9-9 Greinke (R) 5-8 3.71 6-12 WHITE SOX AT TWINS, 8:10 Floyd (R)


5-7 4.20 8-10


Liriano (L) 6-7 3.86 8-9 MARINERS AT ANGELS, 10:05 Hernandez (R) 7-5 2.88 9-10 Weaver (R) 8-5 3.20 10-9


AL SCORES Rangers


7 at Red Sox 2


White Sox Late at Twins Gm


Check live baseball scores at mobile.washingtonpost.com


National League Streaks Entering Thursday’s Games


Batting


Longest current hitting streak: 11, Jay, StL, May 30 to July 11; Herrera, Col, June 30 to July 11.


Pitching


Longest current winning streak: 9, Jime- nez, Col, May 15 to July 8. Longest current losing streak: 5, Gutierrez, Ari, April 16 to June 1; Suppan, Mil-StL, April 23 to July 10. Longest winning streak, season: 9, Jime- nez, Col, May 15 to July 8 (current).


American League Streaks Entering Thursday’s Games


Batting


Longest current hitting streak: 19, Cabre- ra, Det, June 19 to July 11.


Pitching


Longest current winning streak: 8, Sa- bathia, NYY, June 3 to July 11. Longest current losing streak: 5, Braden, Oak, May 14 to June 22; Snell, Sea, April 11 to June 9.


Jair Jurrjens gave up only one run and pitched into the seventh inning, rookie Jason Heyward made two strong de- fensive plays in his return from an injury and Atlanta beat Mil- waukee. Martin Prado and Chipper Jones hit home runs in the third inning off Brewers RHP Dave Bush.


Milwaukee AB R H BI BBSO AVG Weeks 2b Hart rf


Braun lf Fielder 1b


4 0 0 0 0 0 .266 4 1 2 1 0 0 .290 4010 0 1 .292 4 0 0 0 0 0 .262


McGehee 3b 4010 0 0 .274 Edmonds cf 4010 0 2 .273 Lucroy c


A.Escobar ss 4000 0 0 .240 Bush p


Counsell ph 0000 1 0 .238 Coffey p


Braddock p Riske p Totals


Atlanta Prado 2b


Heyward rf C.Jones 3b McCann c Glaus 1b Hinske lf


3 0 1 0 1 2 .270 1 0 0 0 0 0 .120 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000


0000 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 32 1 6 1 2 5 — AB R H BI BBSO AVG 4111 0 0 .324 4000 0 1 .247 3111 1 0 .253 4020 0 1 .270 4 0 2 0 0 1 .258 3 0 1 0 0 1 .275


Me.Cabrera lf 1000 0 0 .258 Ale.Gonzalez ss 3010 1 0 .333 G.Blanco cf Jurrjens p Moylan p Venters p Wagner p Totals


Milwaukee 100 000 000 —160 Atlanta


002 000 00x —281


E: C.Jones (8). LOB: Milwaukee 7, Atlanta 8. 2B: Hinske (17), Ale.Gonzalez (1). HR: Hart (22), off Jurrjens; Prado (11), off Bush; C.Jones (7), off Bush.


Milwaukee


Braddock Riske


Atlanta


Bush (L, 4-7) 6 7 2 2 2 5 4.07 Coffey


IP H R ER BB SO ERA B 0 0 000 4.37


1B 1 0 001 3.79 B 0 0 000 2.25 IP H R ER BB SO ERA


Jurrjens (W, 2-3) 6C 5 1 123 4.75 Moylan Venters


C 1 0 000 2.86 C 0 0 000 1.28


Wagner (S, 21) 1 0 0 0 0 2 1.17


Inherited runners-scored: Riske 1-0, Moylan 2-0, Venters 1-0. IBB: off Bush (Ale.Gon- zalez). T: 2:46. A: 35,057 (49,743).


3 0 0 0 0 2 .310 3 0 0 0 0 0 .077 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 0000 0 0 .000 0000 0 0 --- 32 2 8 2 2 6 —


x-Late game


RANGERS 7, RED SOX 2


Josh Hamilton had three doubles to take over the major league batting lead and help Texas get off to a quick start in the second half.


Hamilton improved his aver- age to .351 before leaving in the seventh inning with sore- ness in his right knee. Nelson Cruz and Vladimir Guerrero also had three hits. Texas


Andrus ss


M.Young 3b Kinsler 2b


Guerrero dh Hamilton lf


B.Molina c C.Davis 1b Borbon cf Totals Boston


Scutaro ss


AB R H BI BB SO AVG 3 0 0 0 2 1 .277 4 1 1 0 1 0 .301 5 1 1 0 0 0 .307 5 2 3 1 0 0 .323 4 1 3 1 0 0 .351


Dav.Murphy pr-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .269 N.Cruz rf


5 1 3 3 0 0 .307 4 1 1 2 0 0 .185 3 0 0 0 1 1 .203 4 0 0 0 0 2 .275 38 7 12 7 4 4 — AB R H BI BB SO AVG 5 0 0 0 0 1 .279


E.Patterson 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .211 D.Ortiz dh Youkilis 1b J.Drew rf Nava lf


Cameron cf Hall 3b Cash c


Shealy ph Totals


Texas


4 0 0 0 0 2 .259 4 0 0 0 0 0 .289 4 1 2 1 0 0 .278 2 0 1 0 2 0 .305 3 0 1 0 0 1 .285 4 1 2 1 0 0 .246 2 0 0 0 1 0 .125 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 33 2 6 2 3 6 —


601 000 000 — 7 12 0 Boston 000 100 100 — 2 6 1


E: Hall (6). LOB: Texas 8, Boston 8. 2B: Hamilton 3 (28), N.Cruz (13). HR: B.Molina (1), off Wakefield; J.Drew (11), off Tom.Hunter; Hall (8), off Tom.Hunter.


Texas


Tom.Hunter (W, 6-0) D.Oliver Ogando Boston


Wakefield (L, 3-8) Manuel


Richardson Atchison R.Ramirez


IP H R ER BB SO ERA 6C 5 2 2 2 1 2.39


1B 0 0 0 0 2 1.32 1 1 0 0 1 3 0.54 IP H R ER BB SO ERA 2 8 7 6 0 2 5.65


2C 2 0 0 1 1 3.86 B 0 0 0 3 0 3.18 3 1 0 0 0 1 4.26 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.66


Wakefield pitched to 3 batters in the 3rd. Richardson pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.


Inherited runners-scored: Manuel 2-0, Rich- ardson 1-0, Atchison 2-0. HBP: by Tom.Hunter (Cameron). T: 3:11. A: 38,062 (37,402).


CARDINALS 7, DODGERS 1


Chris Carpenter gave up four hits in eight innings to improve to 6-0 against Los Angeles. Allen Craig had two RBI with- out a hit off Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw also got tagged with a liner off his right leg for an infield hit by Aaron Miles in the second.


Los Angeles AB R H BI BBSO AVG Furcal ss Kemp cf Ethier rf


Man.Ramirez lf Loney 1b Blake 3b


R.Martin c DeWitt 2b Kershaw p Ju.Miller p


4 0 0 0 0 2 .328 4 0 0 0 0 2 .258 4 1 2 1 0 0 .326 3 0 0 0 0 0 .317 3 0 0 0 0 0 .306 3 0 0 0 0 2 .256 3 0 1 0 0 0 .245 3 0 1 0 0 0 .270 1 0 0 0 0 1 .063 0000 0 0 ---


G.Anderson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .178 Schlichting p Belliard ph Sherrill p Link p Totals


St. Louis


F.Lopez 3b Rasmus cf Winn ph-cf Pujols 1b Holliday lf Craig rf Jay rf


Y.Molina c Miles 2b


C.Carpenter p Boggs p


B.Ryan ss Totals


0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0 0 1 .220 0000 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 30 1 4 1 0 8 — AB R H BI BB SO AVG 4 1 1 1 1 1 .269 3 1 1 0 1 1 .285 1 0 1 0 0 0 .246 5 1 3 0 0 0 .313 3 1 1 1 2 0 .300 2 0 0 2 0 0 .048 1 1 1 1 0 0 .386 4 1 2 1 0 0 .227 3 1 2 1 1 1 .342 3 0 0 0 0 0 .079 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 4 0 0 0 0 0 .190 33 7 12 7 5 3 —


Los Angeles 000 100 000 — 1 4 2 St. Louis


200 210 20x — 7 12 0


E: Man.Ramirez (3), Furcal (12). LOB: Los Angeles 2, St. Louis 9. 2B: DeWitt (14), F.Lopez (12), Rasmus (18), Pujols (22), Jay (7). HR: Ethier (15), off C.Carpenter.


Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO ERA Kershaw (L, 9-5) 4B 8 5 431 3.16 Ju.Miller


Schlichting Sherrill Link


St. Louis


C.Carpenter (W, 10-3) Boggs


C 0 0 010 4.07 2 2 2 2 1 1 1.69 C 1 0 001 7.08 B 1 0 000 3.86 IP H R ER BB SO ERA 8 4 1 106 3.16


1 0 0 0 0 2 2.48


Inherited runners-scored: Ju.Miller 1-0, Link 1-0. IBB: off Ju.Miller (Miles), off Kershaw (Holliday). WP: Link. Balk: Ju.Miller. T: 2:40. A: 41,771 (43,975).


NAM Y. HUH/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Jayson Werth throws his bat after being called out on strikes in the first inning of the Phillies’ loss to the Cubs.


Nats hope second half is steppingstone nationals from D1


over the hump. Next year — I hate talking about next year already — but next year we have a possibil- ity to do a lot of damage. For now, the second half, our goal is to play over .500 and just be consistent.” Along the way, as the Nationals


play 42 of their final 73 games within the National League East, several themes will likely dom- inate the next 21


⁄2 months. The


first will determine the potential course of the next two or three seasons in Washington: Should they trade Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham, sign them to con- tract extensions or stand pat? “You’d like to keep it together,”


Mariners Late at Angels Gm


Riggleman said. “A lot of things go into those decisions. Whatever decision Mike comes to along those lines, I’ll support him.” But Riggleman made clear he would like to keep Zimmerman, Dunn and Willingham — the heart of his batting order — in Washington. “From a selfish standpoint, I’d like to keep 3, 4 and 5 together,” he said. “But we also want to add to the group.” Dunn and Willingham have ex- pressed their desire to remain in Washington, although Dunn’s in- terest in staying could be waning given how long he and his repre- sentatives have been negotiating a new contract with the front of- fice without reaching an agree- ment. The presence of Dunn and Wil- lingham surely would help the Nationals build momentum, one of the reasons Zimmerman wants to keep his teammates. He be- lieves the importance of the final 73 games of the season, regard- less of the standings, is one rea- son to keep both sluggers — his “partners in crime,” he’s called them — in Washington. “We’re so close,” Zimmerman said. “I mean, they know. Mike and [team President] Stan [Kas-


ten] are smart. They’re one of the biggest reasonwhy we’re so much better this year. They drafted well. They traded well. They know what we need to do to win. I don’t think either of them want to get rid of either of these guys. They understand what we have, and they’re proud of the team that we have.” The Nationals cycled through


10 starting pitchers in the first half, and the Nationals Park mound has not seen anything yet. Ross Detwiler, Chien-Ming Wang and Jordan Zimmermann could make their debuts in the coming weeks. John Lannan, Scott Olsen and Jason Marquis could return from either injury or ineffective- ness. How will they all get their shots? With injuries, trades and demotions, the Nationals aren’t worried. “Amazingly, somehow or another, these things usually take care of themselves,” Riggleman said. The biggest question mark is


Wang, who the Nationals hoped would be ready by early June but has yet to schedule a rehabilita- tion start. Wang’s unique shoul- der injury — a shoulder sub- luxation injury more common in football — has made pinning down any kind of timeline for his return tricky. “I don’t think anybody has giv- en up on this season yet,” said Al- an Nero, Wang’s agent. “We’re not 100 percent sure when he’s going to be able to go out on the rehab assignment. I’ve got to commend the Nationals on being so devoted to protecting him.” While the status of Wang’s re- turn remains a mystery, Zimmer- mann’s has become a sure thing, or at least as close to a sure thing as a pitcher recovering from Tom- my John surgery can have. After throwing 53 pitches in four in- nings Wednesday night, Zimmer- mann has not allowed an earned


run or a walk in nine innings spread over three starts with Class A Potomac. No matter who’s hurling, the


players behind him must offer more help. The Nationals com- mitted 75 errors in the first half, most in the major leagues and just seven off the wretched 143- error pace they set last season. The front office believes defense, more than any malady that cropped up in the first half, stands in the way of the Nation- als’ progress. “We need some of the younger guys to mature and stop making the same mistakes,” Zimmerman said. “That’s going to lead to wins. I think the second half, our goal should be more consistent, not have to worry the highs and lows as much.” Before they can make progress,


the Nationals have to define what that means for them right now. It might be letting shortstop Ian Desmond work out his kinks so he can blossom when the team is ready to do the same. It might be determining which outfielders, if any, are long-term fixtures. Even- tually, they want progress to be measured only in the standings. “I think we’re closer to that,”


Riggleman said. “That’s where we want to get to, where the only thing that matters is wins and losses. Right now, we’re in that kind of transition period where we need to make progress. We’ve tasted a little bit of winning here where we say, ‘Let’s go. Let’s get over the hump.’ ” This second half may not get them there, but it could serve as a step backward or a leap forward, a warning of more of the same or promise for what’s next. The pay- off, they hope, will be a winning baseball season in Washington for the first time since 1969. That’s something that would real- ly move the needle. kilgorea@washpost.com


WEEKEND TELEVISION AND RADIO SATURDAY


MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 4 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m.


7 p.m.


CYCLING 8:30 a.m.


Tampa Bay at New York Yankees » WTTG (Channel 5), WBFF (Channel 45) Washington at Florida » MASN2, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)


Toronto at Baltimore » MASN, WJZ (Channel 13), WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)


Chicago White Sox at Minnesota » WGN 4 p.m. Friendly, Tottenham at San Jose » ESPN


AUTO RACING 4:30 p.m.


8 p.m. 11 p.m.


Tour de France » Versus


NBA SUMMER LEAGUE 4 p.m.


SOCCER Noon


GOLF 7 a.m. 4 p.m.


New York vs. Washington » Comcast SportsNet


2 p.m. 8 p.m.


NASCAR Nationwide series, Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 qualifying » ESPN2


NASCAR Nationwide series, Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 » ESPN2 NHRA, Fram-Autolite Nationals qualifying » ESPN2


SOCCER 3 p.m.


7:30 p.m. British Open » ESPN PGA Tour, Reno-Tahoe Open » Golf Channel


BOXING 9:45 p.m. Welterweight bout, Timothy Bradley vs. Luis Carlos Abregu » HBO


Under-20 Women’s World Cup, United States vs. Switzerland » ESPNU


LOTUS COMFORT NEW STAFF


571-285-2872 13601 Office Place, #104 Woodbridge,VA 22192 Open 7 days, 10-9


Home delivery makes good sense.


1-800-753-POST SF SUNDAY


MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 1 p.m. 1 p.m.


1:30 p.m.


Washington at Florida » MASN2, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM) Tampa Bay at New York Yankees » TBS


Toronto at Baltimore » MASN, WJZ (Channel 13), WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)


WNBA 4 p.m.


GOLF 6 a.m. 4 p.m.


Chicago White Sox at Minnesota » WGN


Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs » ESPN, WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)


CUBS 12, PHILLIES 6


Aramis Ramirez hit a pair of two-run doubles, and Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto each had two-run homers to lead Chicago to a win over Philadel- phia. The Cubs scored nine of their runs with two outs.


Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO AVG Rollins ss


Howard 1b 3000 1 0 .248


Ju.Castro ph 1000 0 0 .200 Victorino cf 5121 0 0 .252 Ibanez lf


5221 0 3 .246 5234 0 2 .298


Werth rf 4000 1 2 .279 Dobbs 3b


C.Ruiz c 4000 0 1 .276 W.Valdez 2b 4120 0 1 .256 Moyer p


Ransom ph


B.Francisco ph 1000 0 0 .242 Totals


Chicago AB R H BI BBSO AVG


Theriot 2b 5120 0 0 .279 Colvin rf 4220 0 1 .268 D.Lee 1b 5232 0 0 .239 Byrd cf 2200 1 0 .315 Ar.Ramirez 3b 5124 0 0 .211 A.Soriano lf 5233 0 0 .275 Soto c


S.Castro ss


5112 0 0 .282 4130 0 0 .280


Dempster p 3000 0 2 .139 Marshall p 1000 0 1 .000 Totals


Philadelphia 200 000 004 — 6 10 0 Chicago


39 12 16 11 1 4 — 213 000 51x — 12 16 0


LOB: Philadelphia 8, Chicago 7. 2B: Colvin (11), Ar.Ramirez 2 (11), S.Castro (11). 3B: S.Castro (4). HR: Howard (18), off Demp- ster; Howard (19), off Howry; D.Lee (11), off Moyer; A.Soriano (16), off Moyer; So- to (10), off Contreras.


Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO ERA Moyer (L, 9-9) 3 5 6 6 0 1 4.88 Herndon


K.Kendrick Durbin


Contreras Baez


Madson Chicago


Dempster (W, 8-7) Marshall Berg


Howry Cashner


1 0 0 0 0 1 3.73 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.44 1 1 0 0 0 0 3.22 C 5 5 5 0 0 4.25 1 4 1 1 1 2 4.59 B 0 0 0 0 0 6.35 IP H R ER BB SO ERA 6C 6 2 2 3 9 3.57


C 0 0 0 0 2 2.00 C 0 0 0 1 0 5.19 C 4 4 4 0 0 6.97 B 0 0 0 0 0 2.37


Inherited runners-scored: Madson 3-0, Mar- shall 2-0. HBP: by Moyer (Colvin, Byrd), by Contreras (Byrd). T: 2:57. A: 40,879 (41,210).


3010 1 1 .196


0000 1 0 .077 1000 0 1 .200


K.Kendrick p 0000 0 0 .069 Gload ph


1000 0 0 .239 37 6 10 6 4 11 —


KLMNO WEST W L PCT GB L10 STR


San Diego 51 37 .580 — 5-5 W-1 Colorado 49 39 .557 2 8-2 L-1 LA Dodg. 49 40 .551 2A 6-4 L-1 xSan Fran. 47 41 .534 4 7-3 W-2 Arizona 34 55 .382 17A 3-7 L-1


EAST W L PCT GB L10 STR


New York 56 32 .636 — 8-2 W-1 Tampa Bay 54 34 .614 2 8-2 W-2 Boston


51 38 .573 5A 4-6 L-1


Toronto 44 45 .49412A 4-6 L-1 Baltimore 29 59 .330 27 5-5 W-4


CENTRAL W L PCT GB L10 STR


xChicago 49 38 .563 — 9-1 W-8 Detroit


48 38 .558 A 7-3 L-1


xMinnesota 46 42 .523 3A 3-7 W-1 Kansas City 39 49 .443 10A 6-4 L-3 Cleveland 34 54 .386 15A 3-7 L-2


FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010 AMERICAN LEAGUE


WEST W L PCT GB L10 STR Texas


51 38 .573 — 4-6 W-1


xLos Angeles 47 44 .516 5 2-8 L-2 Oakland 43 46 .483 8 5-5 W-2 xSeattle 35 53 .398 15A 2-8 L-1


x-Late game


Nationals Journal 6washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal Strasburg’s got


about 10 starts left Savor every pitch Stephen


Strasburg throws from now until late August — all 1,000 or so — because the Nationals will not unsheathe their phenom again from then until after winter thaws. Strasburg’s rookie season, which continues Friday when he opens the second half of the season at Sun Life Stadium against the Marlins, will come to a close no more than 62 innings from now, probably 10 starts. “The No. 1 priority is he


finishes up healthy,” Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman said. “If he ends up with a winning record, a losing record, a .500 record, the No. 1 thing is for him to be healthy so we can build on this year and really get him on track in his career to really take off.” Seven starts into his career, major leaguers have watched Strasburg face other major leaguers enough to familiarize themselves with his pitches. Hitters have taken more of a plan into the batter’s box against him recently: get ahead in the count and pounce on outside fastballs. “Now, we were actually talking the other day, it’s going to be fun to see how he adjusts to them now,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “He understands it’s a cat-and-mouse game. He accepts the challenge.” The league’s increasing familiarity with Strasburg has meant — gasp! — consecutive starts in which he has allowed multiple earned runs, in his fifth and sixth starts against the Braves and Mets.


“For him,” Zimmerman


joked, “that’s unacceptable.” Strasburg vowed after his last start — in which he gave up a leadoff homer and then set down 18 of the final 21 batters he faced — that he would be more assertive in choosing the pitches he wants to throw. “I like that,” Riggleman said.


“That’s basically what we tell him, anyway. We meet with him and say, ‘Hey, you know, you can shake your head if he calls something you don’t want. Shake your head. It’s your game.’ That’s what all the pitchers are supposed to do. He’s been reluctant to do it. He’s very respectful. We’ve got two veteran catchers. We’re at a point now where he realizes he knows himself better than they know him.” “You throw what you want to


throw,” pitching coach Steve McCatty said. “You don’t work with the catcher. The catcher works with you.”


Two players suspended


Two Nationals minor leaguers, third baseman Steven Souza and outfielder J.R. Higley, both members of Class AHagerstown, have been suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, according to a release from the league.


Both tested positive for


methylphenidate and ritalinic acid — commonly known as Ritalin, a drug used to treat ADHD that can increase focus and energy level. The suspensions are effective immediately.


—Adam Kilgore


Friendly, Celtic at Seattle » ESPN


MLS, Los Angeles at D.C. United » Fox Soccer Channel; Spanish WDCN (87.7 FM)


Chicago at Washington » Comcast SportsNet


British Open » ESPN PGA Tour, Reno-Tahoe Open » Golf Channel


AUTO RACING 6 p.m.


CYCLING 7:30 a.m.


NHRA, Fram-Autolite Nationals » ESPN2


Tour de France » Versus


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