| SEASON | CAREER |
| W12 | 173 |
| L12 | 131 |
| G27 | 417 |
| IP173.2 | 2650.0 |
| BB35 | 599 |
| SO102 | 1498 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W9 | 15 |
| L6 | 20 |
| G28 | 67 |
| IP140.0 | 312.0 |
| BB39 | 106 |
| SO86 | 188 |
The nation may be debating the Washington Nationals ' decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg as early as next week, but Ross Detwiler 's emergence may be making it easier on the NL East leaders.
Detwiler looks to continue his superb stretch at home in order to win a third game in a row as the Nationals try to rebound from a loss to the Miami Marlins in the middle game of this series Saturday.
Washington (85-53) owns the best record in baseball and leads the division by 6 1/2 games over second-place Atlanta. The franchise seems headed to the postseason for the first time since 1981, when it was the Montreal Expos.
The nation's capital hasn't seen postseason baseball since the original Senators in 1933.
That's precisely why the Nationals' decision to limit Strasburg's innings this year is under intense scrutiny, with the club trying to protect his arm after undergoing Tommy John surgery two years ago. His next scheduled outing Wednesday against New York may be his last.
Washington's five-game winning streak ended with the ace on the mound for Friday's 9-7, 10-inning loss to Miami (62-77). Strasburg gave up five runs and two homers in three innings.
"To be honest with you, I think he just is thinking too much about the decision when we're going to shut him down," manager Davey Johnson said. "And he kind of wore it. He didn't like it. But that's the way it is."
Detwiler's success may give the Nationals confidence in sticking to their decision. The left-hander (9-6, 3.15 ERA) was pulled from the rotation in May after compiling an 8.16 ERA in three starts.
He's been solid since being re-installed for an ineffective Chien-Ming Wang, going 5-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 13 starts.
Detwiler has been particularly impressive over his last six starts at home, putting together a 4-1 record and 1.37 ERA, and that may continue versus Miami.
He's 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA in five games against the Marlins, winning both of his starts while allowing three runs in 11 2-3 innings.
Detwiler gave up all of those runs in 5 2-3 innings Aug. 29, but still earned an 8-4 win at Miami. He followed that up with a dazzling effort Monday, tossing seven scoreless innings while yielding four hits in a 2-1 victory over Chicago.
"He was real special," Johnson said. "He mixed in some breaking balls. Even the ones that were bad were pretty good."
The Marlins are seeking a three-game winning streak for the first time since July 4-6, and Jose Reyes is giving them some punch at the plate.
The shortstop is 7 for 19 with three extra-base hits and eight RBIs in five games, getting two triples among his three hits to go with three RBIs on Friday. He's hitting .483 in six games at Washington this year.
Mark Buehrle (12-12, 3.73) is scheduled to take the mound looking to get off to a better start.
The left-hander gave up all of New York's scoring in the opening inning and pitched seven overall in a 5-1 home loss Sunday, ending a three-start winning streak.
"You just realize you have to settle down," Buehrle told the team's official website. "If you have any chance of coming back, you can't give up many more. You just try to go out there and try to eat up innings."
Buehrle is 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in two starts against the Nationals, but he didn't get a decision in a 10-7 loss Aug. 4. He allowed four runs and two homers in six innings.
@
@
AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPSERAQSSOBBSVBSBAAWHIPE
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Emilio Bonifacio | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| John Buck | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Chris Coghlan | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Greg Dobbs | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Omar Infante | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Austin Kearns | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 1.500 | 1.000 |
| Logan Morrison | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | .000 |
| Donnie Murphy | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Hanley Ramirez | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .400 | .900 | .500 |
| Jose Reyes | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .393 | .143 |
| Anibal Sanchez | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | .000 |
| Gaby Sanchez | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Mark DeRosa | 23 | .261 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | .320 | .842 | .522 |
| Adam LaRoche | 7 | .429 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .429 | 1.143 | .714 |
| Xavier Nady | 11 | .182 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .250 | .705 | .455 |
| Jayson Werth | 5 | .200 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .333 | .533 | .200 |
 Miami Marlins |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 04, 2012 | Heath Bell | Day-to-Day | Sore left foot |
| August 22, 2012 | Emilio Bonifacio | 15-Day DL | Sprained right knee |
| August 13, 2012 | Nick Green | 15-Day DL | Sprained left thumb |
| August 04, 2012 | Emilio Bonifacio | 15-Day DL | Sprained left thumb |
| August 04, 2012 | Emilio Bonifacio | 15-Day DL | Sprained left thumb |
| August 04, 2012 | Donnie Murphy | 15-Day DL | Left hamstring strain |
 Washington Nationals |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 03, 2012 | Michael Morse | Day-to-Day | Left game - sore right thumb |
| September 02, 2012 | Jayson Werth | Day-to-Day | Sore hamstring |
| August 24, 2012 | Ian Desmond | Day-to-Day | Strained right hamstring |
| August 24, 2012 | Michael Morse | Day-to-Day | Left game - right hand contusion |
| August 13, 2012 | Jayson Werth | Day-to-Day | Sore right ankle |
| August 05, 2012 | Mark DeRosa | 15-Day DL | Left abdominal strain |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hours after learning Stephen Strasburg 's season had ended earlier than expected, the major league-best Washington Nationals rallied for a big win against the Miami Marlins .
Pinch hitter Corey Brown 's single drove in Ian Desmond with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday, lifting the Nationals to a 7-6 victory.
After Adam LaRoche singled off Chad Guadin (3-2) to open the inning, Desmond singled him to third and Danny Espinosa was intentionally walked to load the bases. With the infield in, Kurt Suzuki grounded into a fielder's choice as LaRoche was thrown out at home, but Brown followed with a bloop single to right.
"You can see the talent we have on this team," Brown said. "It's tough to pitch around anybody. I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and it felt good that I was able to get the job done."
The Nationals remained 6 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East. The Braves beat the New York Mets 11-3 later Saturday.
Drew Storen (2-1) pitched a scoreless 10th inning for the win.
After a 2:33 rain delay, Jayson Werth led off the bottom of the ninth with home run off Heath Bell to tie the score at 6-all.
"Once I got (the count) to 2-2, I figured he wasn't gonna mess around with any breaking stuff," Werth said. "He's got a good fastball, he likes to work up in the zone. I got a pitch that was up just enough."
Nationals manager Davey Johnson announced before the game that rather than having Strasburg finish his season Wednesday in New York as planned, they were shutting him down immediately.
"He's had a great year. I know what he's going through," Johnson said before the game. "The media hype on this thing has been unbelievable. I feel it's as hard for him as it would be anybody to get mentally, totally committed in the ballgame. And he's reached his innings limit. So we can get past this and talk about other things for a change."
Strasburg admitted he was disappointed with the decision.
"I thought I had another start," he said after the game. "It was pretty shocking and honestly, I'm not too happy about it."
The 24-year-old right-hander said he tried to talk his way into one more start.
"I talked to them about it and they seemed pretty firm," Strasburg said. "It's not just about me. It's not about one player. I think the best thing I can do now is move forward and be the best teammate I can."
Johnson said John Lannan will make the Wednesday start and remain in the starting rotation.
Strasburg allowed five runs and matched his career low by lasting only three innings in the Nationals' 9-7, 10-inning loss to the Marlins on Friday night.
"I sensed if from almost the first pitch of the ballgame yesterday, that that was gonna be it for him," Johnson said. "I discussed it with (pitching coach) Steve McCatty and (GM) Mike Rizzo and they were in agreement."
Strasburg finished 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA in his first full season following elbow-ligament replacement surgery on Sept. 3, 2010. He struck out 197 in 159 1-3 innings.
"I don't know if I'm ever gonna accept it to be honest," Strasburg said of the plan to end his season prematurely. "It's something that I'm not happy about at all. That's not why I play the game. I play the game to be a good teammate and win.
"You don't grow up dreaming of playing in the big leagues to get shut down when the games start to matter. It's gonna be a tough one to swallow, but like I said, all I can do is be the best teammate possible for these guys."
Ryan Zimmerman 's 20th homer of the season, a two-run shot to left-center off reliever A.J. Ramos with no outs in the eighth, cut Miami's lead to 6-5. Michael Morse and LaRoche followed with singles, but the Nationals eventually left the bases loaded.
Gorkys Hernandez led off with the game with a homer to left-center off Ross Detwiler , and two outs later Giancarlo Stanton homered for the second day in a row.
Donovan Solano made it 3-0 when he singled home Donnie Murphy in the second.
Jesus Flores ' homer to left in the bottom of the third made it 3-1 and the Nationals got to within one in the fourth when Espinosa singled home Zimmerman.
Miami scored two unearned runs against Detwiler in the fifth. Solano led off with a walk and, with two outs, Carlos Lee walked. When LaRoche was unable to come up with Justin Rodriguez's sharp grounder at first, Solano scored on the error and Lee went to third. John Buck 's single scored Lee.
Bryce Harper 's solo blast into the upper deck in right-center field in the fifth made it 5-3.
The Marlins added a run in the seventh as Solano doubled and scored on Zimmerman's throwing error on Ruggiano's grounder.
NOTES: Espinosa extended his hitting streak to 10 games. ... Buehrle (1,503) became the 24th active pitcher with at least 1,500 career strikeouts. ... Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez was ejected after arguing from the dugout with the home plate umpire following Stanton's homer. ... Washington's Edwin Jackson (9-9, 3.63) faces Ricky Nolasco (11-12, 4.64) in Sunday's series finale.
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Miami Marlins