Craig Stammen

Will the third time be the charm for the World Baseball Classic? Not if the underwhelming U.S. roster is any indication. While many of Commissioner Bud Selig's innovations have enjoyed immediate success — especially expanded playoffs and...

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - Washington Nationals - INSIDE PITCH The Nationals need to get their bullpen right if they are going to get a surge going heading into June. The likes of Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano were expected...

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - Washington Nationals - INSIDE PITCH Outfielder Bryce Harper blamed himself for not making the play on a long fly ball by the San Francisco Giants' Gregor Blanco on Tuesday. It turned into the tying run and the...

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - Washington Nationals - INSIDE PITCH Right-hander Stephen Strasburg appears back in a groove. And at just the right time for the Nationals. On Tuesday in San Francisco, Strasburg went seven innings but did not factor...

1B Brett Pill is not a pitcher. That's the biggest head-scratcher about his promotion from Triple-A Fresno on Tuesday. The Giants were supposed to summon a starting pitcher from the minor leagues either to replace injured RHP Ryan Vogelsong in the...

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - Washington Nationals - INSIDE PITCH The Nationals' West Coast trip likely will be remembered for two incidents involving players experiencing difficulties with immovable objects. First, on May 13, Bryce Harper ran...

MLB Team Report - San Francisco Giants - INSIDE PITCH What awful timing for Ryan Vogelsong. Just as the Giants right-hander was putting together his best outing of the year, he was struck in the right hand while swinging at a pitch from Washington's...

The Sports Xchange By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange Giants 4, Nationals 2 (10) SAN FRANCISCO -- Gregor Blanco rescued the San Francisco Giants from the edge of defeat with a ninth-inning RBI triple and Pablo Sandoval belted a two-run, game-...

SportsDirect Inc. Recap: Giants 8, Nationals 0 Giants 8, Nationals 0: Brandon Belt homered among his four hits and Ryan Vogelsong tossed five shutout innings before leaving with a broken right hand as San Francisco blanked visiting Washington in the...

The Sports Xchange By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange EditorsNote: first lede; write-thru to follow Vogelsong breaks hand in Giants' shutout win SAN FRANCISCO -- Ryan Vogelsong pitched five shutout innings before leaving the game with a broken...

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - Washington Nationals - INSIDE PITCH Ryan Mattheus made two mistakes Sunday and Monday. The second was much more disturbing to Nationals manager Davey Johnson than the first. The right-handed reliever punched a...

MLB Team Report - Washington Nationals - INSIDE PITCH Jordan Zimmermann was not able to get his eighth win of the season Saturday, but he remains the hottest starting pitcher in the Nationals' stacked rotation. Zimmermann, still the National League...