Strasburg a No Show at 100-Game Mark as Nats Continue to Struggle

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Spectacular rookie right handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg did not make it to the mound in the Nation's Capital Tuesday for what was the 100th game of the 2010 season.

Not that it would have made much of a difference. After the first 100 games of the season concluded July 27, the Nationals weigh in at 42-58 overall, dead last in the competitive National League East.

Nonetheless, it is a much better start to the current campaign than the former two when Washington completed the '08 season with a 59-102 mark and also completed the '09 season with a 59-103 mark.
 
The final game of the '08 campaign was rained out and not made up. In the Nats first three seasons back in D.C., they generated an 81-81 campaign in '05 as well as a 71-91 campaign in '06 and a 73-89 campaign in '07.

This year, the Nats actually began the current season 20-15 overall, but in recent weeks have merely posted a 22-42 mark to put them at 42-57 overall.

As of July 27, the Atlanta Braves lead the National League East with a mark of 57-41. It was the Atlanta Braves that would have been Strasburg's opponent Tuesday at Nats Park. Strasburg, a rookie from San Diego State, currently weighs-in individually at 5-2 overall with an outstanding ERA of 2.32.

Rounding out the NL East, second-place Philadelphia weighs-in at second place (53-46) - followed by the New York Mets (50-49), Florida (49-49) and Washington (42-57).

Washington will also host Atlanta on July 28th (7:05 pm) and July 29 (12:35 pm), and then will host Philadelphia for a weekend series - July 30th, 31st and Aug. 1st.

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Regarding professional soccer in the Nation's Capital, D.C. United also sits in last place in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer with a disappointing mark of 3 wins, 11 losses and 3 ties.

In the 16-team league (eight in the Eastern and eight in the Western), DC United is dead last in points with only 12 (three for a win and one for a tie).

D.C. United, which plays their home games at RFK Stadium, has only scored 12 goals on the season while giving up 28.

If the season were to end today, the eight teams that would qualify for the postseason quarterfinals would be: Columbus, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Salt Lake, Dallas, San Jose and Colorado.

D.C. United visits Salt Lake on July 31st (9 pm EST) - to try to snap out of their funk.

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On the women's side of professional soccer, the Washington Freedom weigh-in with an overall mark of four wins, six losses and five ties; good for fifth place in the seven-team league.

The Freedom, which plays their home games at the "Soccer-plex" in Germantown, Md, weighs-in with 17 total points (also three for a win and also one for a tie).

The Freedom have scored 21 goals on the season and have given up 23.

The team will play two games in a span of approximately 75 hours when they visit Atlanta (July 28th) and then visit Boston (July 31st).

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The National Football League training camps will open shortly and The Washington Redskins will conduct their summer sessions at Redskins Park in Ashburn.

Looking ahead to the four summer pre-season games, the Skins will play their first two at home and then will play their last two on the road.

Chronologically, Washington will host Buffalo (Aug. 13) as well as Baltimore (Aug. 21). The Skins will hit the road versus the New York Jets (Aug. 27) and versus Arizona (Sept. 2).

First-year head coach Mike Shanahan has taken over for ousted Jim Zorn ('8-8 in '08 and 4-12 in '09) and will attempt to steer the ship toward the playoffs.

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Regarding college football, in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia Tech - with a number of local high school alumni on the squad, was picked by the media to win the Atlantic Division Title in the upcoming season.

Conversely, Florida State was picked to win the Coastal Division Title.

Should that play out as the media writers project, the Hokies would meet the Seminoles for the league title in early December in Charlotte, N.C. on the home field of the Carolina Panthers.

In previous years, the two Division winners always met in the State of Florida for the title contest.

Since 2004, when the league had 11 teams total (since 2005 - the league has had 12 teams) - the past six winners have included: Virginia Tech ('04, '07 and '08), Florida State ('05), Wake Forest ('06) and Georgia Tech ('09).

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The local high school sports season will commence in approximately 4-5 weeks when golf will see the first competitive action of the '10/'11 school season.

In addition to golf,  cross country, field hockey, football, soccer and volleyball will be featured in the fall of 2010.