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Nationals Vs. Padres: Washington Stumbles 6-1, Splits Two-Game Series With San Diego

2012-05-15T20:16:06Z

More: Nationals shut down by Bass, Padres

With Stephen Strasburg taking the mound for the Washington Nationals (22-14) in the second game of a two-game set against the San Diego Padres (13-24), the hope was that the 6-foo-4 right-hander could deliver the Nats a victory and a series sweep. After surrendering four earned runs over the first four innings, that hope, in large part, was lost, as Washington fell to the last-place Padres, 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon.

Strasburg struggled most of all during the first inning, as he gave up three runs capped off by a two-run single from catcher Jeff Baker that scored Chase Headley and Yonder Alonso.

And though the bullpen allowed just four hits and two runs over the remaining four innings, Washington's hitters never got going at the plate, totaling just six hits and one run -- a solo home run from Bryce Harper in the fifth inning.

Washington, which had beat San Diego 8-5 on Monday, will now host the Pittsburgh Pirates in a two-game series on Wednesday and Thursday before a weekend set against the Baltimore Orioles at Nationals Park.

For more information on this series stay subscribed to this StoryStream. For more information on the Washington Nationals check out the SB Nation Blog Federal Baseball. For more information on the San Diego Padres check out the SB Nation Blog Gaslamp Ball. For more baseball news, check out the SB Nation MLB Hub Page.

Maryland Forward Ashton Pankey To Transfer

2012-05-15T18:43:39Z

Maryland power forward Ashton Pankey will transfer from the school and look for a new place to play that's closer back to his home in New York according to a tweet by Jeff Ermann of Inside MD Sports.

Freshman PF Ashton Pankey leaving Maryland & will likely transfer somewhere closer to home in NY, multiple sources say.maryland.247sports.com/Board/67/Panke…
— Jeff Ermann (@insidemdsports) May 15, 2012

Last season, Pankey averaged 4.7 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game. He saw the floor for a total of 20.3 minutes per game. His shooting was decent, averaging 45.2 percent of shots made from the floor.

Pankey also tweeted out a good bye message to the Maryland fans.

Gonna miss maryland &terpnation...always have a place in my heart & I appreciated the last 2 years..#familyfirst
— Ashton Pankey (@AshtonP_30) May 15, 2012

The university confirmed that Pankey was leaving the program courtesy of the Terps insider twitter account of the Washington Post.

And Maryland makes it official: Pankey is transferring "due to family reasons." Hopes to find a school closer to home.
— Terrapins Insider (@TerpsInsider) May 15, 2012

The Terrapins will have to hope that their new recruiting class will be able to replace many of the players that have left such as Terrell Stoglin and Mychal Parker.

Conference Realignment: VCU Will Join Atlantic 10 July 1

2012-05-15T18:04:59Z

The Va. Commonwealth Rams made it official today that they will join the Atlantic 10 conference effective July 1, 2012. They will be participating in the Atlantic 10 in all sports for the 2012-13 academic year. VCU president Michael Rao spoke at a press conference that lasted only about 15 minutes to address why they are accelerating their plans to join the conference.

The Atlantic 10 has premier universities across the board and that includes athletics. The ability to recruit and retain student athletes will be sufficiently enhanced because of this move.

This move does come with a price however, the cost for joining the Atlantic 10 will be a hefty $700,000 dollars. For some universities that's not much, but for VCU that's a big price to pay. Rao and those in the athletic department hope that new revenue from the Atlantic 10 will help offset that cost.

Rao also took time during the press conference to address the conference they are leaving in the Colonial Athletic Association.

We have the utmost respect of Tom Yeager and his leadership team as well as the other institutions of CAA.

The move leaves the CAA in flux. The Old Dominion Monarchs have been rumored to possibly be leaving the conference to join the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. So if those two leave the CAA the George Mason Patriots would not have as much competition and the conference would be much weaker.

Even more discouraging for Mason fans is the report from CBS Sports via the GMUHoops.com blog that the Patriots were passed over for the Rams, despite being in a larger media market and also having a close rival in the George Washington Colonials.

For more on the Rams and Patriots basketball programs, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.

LIVE VIDEO: VCU Announces Move To Atlantic 10

2012-05-15T17:23:31Z

Virginia Commonwealth University has called a press conference for 1:30 p.m. in Richmond. The school is expected to announce that it is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Atlantic 10 Conference, joining the Butler Bulldogs in that conference.

VCU has been a member of the CAA since 1995, when they joined after being shut out of the merger between the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences that formed Conference USA.

In their time as a CAA member, the VCU men's basketball team won 5 Colonial Athletic Association regular season and tournament championships and made the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament six times, making the Final Four in 2011.

Live video of the press conference is below and is courtesy of CSN Washington.

For more on the Rams basketball program, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.

Padres Vs. Nationals: Stephen Strasburg Takes Mound Looking For Quick Two-Game Sweep

2012-05-15T15:59:17Z

The Nationals got a win in the first game of their short series against the San Diego Padres on Monday night, and they can earn a quick seep of the two game set with a win on Tuesday afternoon. The game starts at 1 pm and can be found on MASN.

Bill Ladson has tweeted out the starting lineup for the Nationals, and it is as follows.

1 - Ian Desmond - SS
2 - Roger Bernadina - LF
3 - Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
4 - Adam LaRoche - 1B
5 - Bryce Harper - RF
6 - Danny Espinosa - 2B
7 - Rick Ankiel - CF
8 - Jesus Flores - C
9 - Stephen Strasburg - SP

According to the Nationals official twitter account, the team has called Carlos Maldonaldo up to replace Sandy Leon, who has been put on the 15-day DL. Wilson Ramos has also been placed on the 60-day DL.

Alexander Semin Denies Decision Has Been Made To Leave Washington

2012-05-15T15:03:16Z

Alexander Semin has denied that he has decided to leave Washington, less than 24 hours after his agent told ESPN that the left winger would test the free agent market.

Speaking in Stockholm, Sweden, where he will join the Russian national team at the IIHF World Championships, Semin issued the following statement, according to Puck Daddy's Dmitry Chesnokov.

This is all just talk. Words can get twisted. There was no talk at all that I am not going to sign with the Capitals for sure. I have not talked to them [the Capitals] about leaving. And please don't ask me questions about the next season anymore.

Chesnokov, who has as much insight into the NHL's Russian contingent as anyone, added his own reporting, as well.

I was told the decision by Semin and his agent, made well before the playoffs, wasn't necessarily to test the free agency, but rather to take his time to see how the negotiations between the League and the union go regarding the new CBA. There's always a concern players will agree to another considerable rollback in salaries. Moreover, with the recent changes in Washington with Coach Dale Hunter's departure, it's also wise to wait and see who will be named the head coach of the underachieving team. Or maybe even a new general manager.

The key phrase there, of course, is "well before the playoffs." There's always the possibility that something changed to prompt Mark Gandler's outburst. Either way, the countdown to July 1 is on.

For more Capitals coverage, visit Japers' Rink. Follow all the news about Semin and the Capitals in free agency at SB Nation DC.

Anthony Rendon Injury Update: Conflicting Reports On Whether Rendon Will Return This Season

2012-05-15T15:01:32Z

Now that Bryce Harper is doing some damage with the big boys, Anthony Rendon is the highest rated prospect in the Nationals organization. But he fractured his ankle early in this season and while he continues to rehab the injury, we aren't sure exactly what his timeline for a return is. First, Rendon told the Houston Chronicle that he would not be returning this year.

"I’m probably not going to come back this year," Rendon said Monday while attending Rice practice at Reckling Park. "It wouldn’t make any sense to come back and play the last month and try and do something big."

Then the Nationals made a comment that seems to indicate they expect Rendon to return to the field this year, and with a significant amount of the season left to boot; according to Byron Kerr at MASN.

When told of the Houston Chronicle report, a Nationals spokesperson said that Rendon has had no setbacks and is on schedule for a late July or August return. Nothing has changed in the status of Rendon's ankle, and he is continuing his rehab from the injury. The team expects Rendon back before the end of the season.

Rendon has a history of injuries, so it isn't smart to rush him back. But I think the Nationals need to get Rendon on the same page with their plan so there aren't any more conflicting stories about this.

For more on Washington baseball, be sure to visit SB Nation's Nationals blog Federal Baseball. For more from around baseball, head over to Baseball Nation. To keep track of all rumors and happenings in the game, check out MLB Daily Dish.

After Dale Hunter And Alexander Semin, Capitals Face Offseason Of Limbo

2012-05-15T13:14:11Z

A new coach, a cap crunch, and an uncertain CBA future are what face George McPhee this summer. He'll have to be at his best.

The two biggest decisions that Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee would face in the summer of 2012 were made for him hours apart Monday.

In the morning, Dale Hunter, who had coached McPhee's roster for all of 74 games dating back to November 29, walked into McPhee's office and told him, essentially, "It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun."

In the afternoon, Alexander Semin's agent spoke to an ESPN reporter and said, essentially, that for his client, this past season had been no fun at all.

The first departure is easy to discuss and dispose of. Dale Hunter did not need to be an NHL head coach -- neither monetarily nor, it seems emotionally. When Hunter accepted George McPhee's offer to replace Bruce Boudreau this past November, he did so on the understanding that he would see out the season. However, Hunter also reserved the right to pack it in if it all became too much for him.

Exactly what aspect or aspects of the season proved to be the tipping point is not clear. Neither Hunter nor his radical defensive realignment looked out of place behind the bench or on the ice. But the travel, the packed schedule, and all the other ancillary duties required of an NHL bench boss take a toll on any man, even those who do need the job. It's no coincidence that Hunter's final press conference as Caps coach was the only one that didn't resemble parental interrogation of a sullen teenager ("How was school, Dale?" "We're battling. We're making hockey plays.").

It's fast become accepted fact among Caps followers that the team needs a coach with Stanley Cup experience to lead them over the last part of the trail. The natural division of opinion has followed in short order. Are you a Craig McTavish guy or a Paul Maurice gal? Does the name Jacques Martin make you go "Ooo, la la?" How about Ron Wilson, Part II? (Not likely, if Bob McKenzie is to be believed.)

If McPhee is willing to wait to get his man, and he is apparently willing to do just that, he could do far worse than placing a call to the New Jersey Devils to ask if Larry Robinson is available. A winner of six Stanley Cups as a player with Montreal, and another as a head coach with New Jersey (jumping on late in the 1999-2000 season in place of the fired Robbie Ftorek), Robinson was once described by his Montreal teammate Ken Dryden as a player with "a game rooted in defense, opportunistic on offense, limited, economic, and dominant." Sound a little too close to Hunter Hockey for your liking? Then you should know that Robinson is no complete stranger to offense, recording 144 points in 227 career playoff games, no small total for a defenseman.

Replacing a coach is a relatively straightforward thing. Replacing someone like Alexander Semin is less so. Semin's two previous one-year deals, the first with a cap hit of $6 million and the second with a cap hit of $6.7 million, had been relatively private dealings done in midseason, with the team's release announcing the agreement the first inkling many outsiders had of any negotiation, much less an agreement.

The decision of Semin's agent to agitate for a free-agent deal in the media almost certainly spells the end for his client in Washington; as the case of Eric Belanger and, most recently, Matthias Sjogren proved, McPhee can be quite cold-blooded when it comes to matters of personnel.

Semin is one of seven free unrestricted free agents set to come off the books July 1. Washington currently has no cap space to speak of, as can be seen here. In addition to Semin's $6.7 million cap hit, we can also safely deduct the $1.5 million hit of Tomas Vokoun, who appeared to cut his own path out of town on Monday as well.

If all seven depart, which is a real possibility (the others, for the record are Mike Knuble, Jeff Halpern, Keith Aucoin, Dennis Wideman, and Dany Sabourin), that plus a few other cap breaks will free up roughly $20 million of cap space, space that McPhee could use, if he so desires and once he's done cursing himself for the Brooks Laich and Joel Ward contracts, to go for at least one marquee free agent this summer.

A prime candidate would be Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, who would be a clear upgrade over Wideman (and is also two years younger). Other, more cost-friendly options on the back end include Florida's Jason Garrison, Philadelphia's Matt Carle, and Chicago's Johnny Oduya.

The pickings for a potential second-line center, that seemingly perennial hole in the Captals' lineup, are slim. If McPhee really felt frisky (and didn't feel like shipping assets in a trade), he could sign Olli Jokinen (age 33, and late of Calgary) to a short-term deal. The premier offensive free agent this season, New Jersey's Zach Parise, would be the perfect replacement for Semin in the hearts and minds of all Caps fans, but he's played himself into a massive contract this playoff season, one that McPhee would probably not be inclined to give.

All these decisions will have to be made against the uncertain background of the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires September 15. Negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA have been more or less suspended through the playoffs because the league doesn't want fans distracted by the prospect of a lost season a la 2004-05. The prospect is there, and will be something that George McPhee has to take seriously.

So as McPhee left his office at Kettler on Monday, here was what he was looking down the barrel of: not only the need to bring in a new coach, not only the need to sign better, complementary all-around players, but the very real prospect that not merely one, but two years of the Caps window could close by the time Washington reconvenes for their next season.

Say a prayer, George. You'll need to.