season that they went four straight games without scoring a power pla

Washington Nationals starting pitcher?Stephen Strasburg returned from the disabled list Sunday and held the?Cincinnati Reds?hitless for 6 2/3 innings before he was removed from the game after throwing 109 pitches.Strasburg struck out five batters and walked four in Washingtons?12-1 win over the Reds at Nationals Park.The Nationals no-hit bid ended in the eighth inning, when reliever Matt Belisle gave up a single to Ramon Cabrera.Its tough taking a guy out of a no-hitter, but we have to think about the future and where he had come from off the DL, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. You just think, Were going to need him.Strasburg (11-0) has won a franchise-record 14 straight decisions and is the first NL starter to begin a season 11-0 since San Diegos Andy Hawkins in 1985. He did not disagree with Bakers decision to remove him.I understand where hes coming from, Strasburg said. Theres more important things, hopefully, down the road for this team.Strasburg was just five pitches shy of his highest pitch count this season. He left to a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,328 and was replaced by?Blake Treinen,?who got?Billy Hamilton?to ground out.I felt pretty good, Strasburg said. It was weird, warming up. My changeup was the only pitch I could really locate, and then I couldnt find the strike zone with it today, but the curveball and slider were really good.The Nationals placed right-hander?Joe Ross on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation to open a roster spot when Strasburg was activated Sunday.Ross, 23, labored through 5 1/3 innings against Cincinnati on Saturday, allowing a season-high 10 hits and four earned runs. Ross velocity was noticeably down.Strasburg hadnt started since June 15 after he suffered an upper-back strain. The Nationals scratched him from two starts before making the DL move June 26 and backdating it to June 16.Strasburg, who signed a seven-year, $175 million contract extension in May, lowered his season ERA to 2.71 with Sundays performance.Moving Ross (7-4, 3.47 ERA) to the DL also means rookie?Lucas Giolito?will remain in the rotation. The 21-year-old threw?four scoreless innings in his debut June 28 against the New York Mets.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Larry Andersen Jersey . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Robin Roberts Jersey . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. http://www.cheapphilliesjerseyschina.com/ .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Wholesale Phillies Jerseys . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Phillies Jerseys Outlet . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington.The Boston Bruins won Game Four, 1-0, sweeping the favoured Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final. Boston held Pittsburgh, the leagues highest-scoring team, to two goals in the four-game whitewash. Bruins G Tuukka Rask stopped 134 of 136 shots faced in the four games, good for a .985 save percentage. The lone goal in the deciding game was scored by Bruins D Adam McQuaid, a defensive defenceman who scored one goal in 32 regular season games and now has two in 16 playoff games this year. Bostons defence has made a habit of jumping into the play offensively, scoring 15 goals so far in the postseason. Los Angeles and Pittsburgh are tied for second in goals from defencemen in the playoffs, with eight. Bostons balanced attack got contributions from their top two lines. Nathan Horton led the Bruins with five points in the series, and David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron each had four. As much as the story of the series was Rask and the Bruins domination, the flip side was that the Penguins star-laden offence was silent. D Paul Martin, with two assists, was the only Penguin with more than a single point. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were both held off the scoresheet in all four games. The last time Sidney Crosby went four games without a point was a five-game stretch in November, 2009. The last time Malkin went four consecutive games without a point occurred in late December, 2009 through early January, 2010. The superstars were held off the board, but thhey obviously werent alone.dddddddddddd. Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, James Neal and Kris Letang were also blanked. That means that Pittsburghs top four playoff scorers (Malkin, Letang, Crosby and Iginla) were shut down. The Penguins power play was 0-for-15 in the series, the only time all season that they went four straight games without scoring a power play goal. However unlikely it may have been going into the series for Pittsburgh to get ousted so easily, that was the result and it will likely result in some soul-searching. There have already been rumours that Malkin could be a trade target, as out of this world as that sounds. Its hard to imagine the Penguins being better without Malkin to work in tandem with Crosby down the middle, but any trade would depend on what the Penguins received in return. Its not easy to get equal value, to be sure, but its not impossible. But those are questions to be answered in the summer, and Ill surely get to a Penguins Off-Season Game Plan in due time. As for the Bruins, they escaped by the thinnest of margins against Toronto in Round One, but theyve been an unstoppable freight train since. Theyve been one of the best possession teams in the league through the regular season and the playoffs. Combined with superior goaltending, thats a winning combination. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '