Griffin says he could see himself playing opener even after idle preseason

Quarterback Robert Griffin III says he could envision himself starting the Washington Redskins' regular season opener in September even if he doesn't play in any preseason games, if it comes to that."I've thought about that and yeah, I would be comfortable with that," Griffin said after Thursday's offseason practice at Redskins Park. "That's all I can say. I have no control over whether I pla

John Wall and Bradley Beal expected to participate in Team USA minicamp

John Wall and Bradley Beal are both expected to be among the 24 players to participate in USA Basketball's minicamp in July. Team USA officials have already begun the process of tracking potential talent for the 2014 World Cup in Madrid and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the Wizards' back-court duo will soon have a chance to leave an impression. Read full article >>

Orioles hit four home runs in 10-6 win over the Blue Jays and newcomer Sean Nolin

TORONTO — A day after the Baltimore Orioles sent one of their prized pitching prospects to the mound for his major league debut, the Toronto Blue Jays trotted out 23-year-old left-hander Sean Nolin fresh out of Class AA to make his first big league start on Friday night at Rogers Centre. Read full article >>

Nationals designate Yunesky Maya for assignment, call up Jeff Kobernus

In order to make room on the 40-man roster for the call-up of infielder Jeff Kobernus from Class AAA Syracuse, the Nationals will designate right-handed pitcher Yunesky Maya for assignment, Manager Davey Johnson said following Friday's game. Kobernus will serve as insurance while Danny Espinosa rests his injured wrist. Read full article >>

Maryland women’s lacrosse team reaches NCAA final with 11-10 win over Syracuse

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Both of Maryland senior Katie Schwarzmann’s teams were in attendance on Friday night at Villanova Stadium. The Maryland women’s lacrosse team defeated Syracuse, 11-10, in an NCAA semifinal before 6,278. Read full article >>

Baseball: Scott Mitchell powers South River to first Maryland 4A championship

ABERDEEN, Md. — For most of Friday’s Maryland 4A baseball state final, Scott Mitchell seemed untouchable, his pitching arsenal as overpowering as it was elusive for the opposition. But as the seventh inning wore on at Ripken Stadium, the South River senior pitcher came upon one force he couldn’t shake — his emotions. Read full article >>

Nationals 5, Phillies 2: Jordan Zimmermann gets help from Washington’s offense to pick up eighth win

Throughout this season, these Washington Nationals have displayed a head-scratching inability to get runners home, often having a tough enough time simply getting them on base. For at least one inning on an unusually chilly May night, they exorcised their situational hitting demons. Scuffling bench players came to life. Runners weren’t stranded on base. Read full article >>

Updates on Ross Detwiler, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos, Ryan Mattheus

Ross Detwiler will throw a bullpen session on Saturday, the final determination of if he can make his next start on Tuesday, Manager Davey Johnson said. Detwiler has progressed well from a slight oblique strain that caused him to miss his last start. The Nationals have been pleased with his improvement and believe he will be ready to pitch against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday in Washington.

Phillies at Nationals discussion thread: Game 48

The Phillies and Nationals (finally) meet for the first time this season. The Nationals return home from a 4-6 California road trip and send their best starter, Jordan Zimmermann (7-2, 1.62 ERA), to the mound against their division rival. Right-hander Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 2.82 ERA) faces the Nationals lineup without Danny Espionsa, who learned Friday he has been playing with a fractured right wri

Rookie Kyle Porter getting big role with D.C. United

D.C. United liked what it was seeing from Kyle Porter, but as the Canadian midfielder gained comfort as a starter in his first MLS season, Coach Ben Olsen pushed him to take the next step.Olsen’s message: “Don’t be okay with just being a starter now.” Read full article >>

Danny Espinosa has been playing with a fractured wrist (updated)

Danny Espinosa has been playing with a fractured right wrist since he was hit by a pitch April 14, a discomfort that lingered and never subsided. Espinosa, 26, will rest for two or three days and receive treatment, hoping to alleviate the swelling and pain with the hope that he can avoid the 15-day disabled list. The Nationals will likely call up infielder Jeff Kobernus, who was out of the lineu

Nationals-Phillies lineups

Before the game, first base coach Tony Tarasco, who coaches the outfield, watched as Tyler Moore and Bryce Harper caught flyballs at the warning track and wall in right. Denard Span joined in as well.Danny Espinosa seemed to move in the right direction in the Nationals' West Coast finale, walking and smacking an opposite-field single. But the second baseman is out of the lineup today in fa

Send in your Washington Redskins mailbag questions

Don't forget to send in your Redskins-related questions for this week's installment of The Mailbag.With this being a holiday weekend, we'll run the mailbag on Tuesday rather than Monday.There should be a variety of topics to cover now that a week of offseason practices are in the books. This week we saw Robert Griffin III running and throwing, heard from the quarterback, his coach and team

UNLV's Anthony Bennett doesn't expect shoulder injury to affect draft stock

UNLV freshman power forward Anthony Bennett frowned as he glanced down at his left arm while attending the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday. Nearly a week removed having surgery to repair a torn left rotator cuff, Bennett is wearing a sling that is connected to a pad near his midsection to protect his arm and limit its mobility. Read full article >>

Maryland football game times set for Florida International, Old Dominion

The ACC has announced game times for the Maryland football team's first two games of the upcoming season. The Terrapins will host Florida International at 12:30 p.m. in the opener on Aug. 31 and Football Bowl Subdivision foe Old Dominion at 4 p.m. on Sept. 7 the following week. Read full article >>

Capitals season review: Defensemen

From the earliest days of training camp, Coach Adam Oates made it clear that his system was designed for the protection and involvement of the defensemen.Ideally, blueliners will have the extra time to make the proper play to get the puck out of their own end and avoid the hits that come with a punishing forecheck. It was also critical for each defenseman to join the play in the offensive end

Even before Griffin's injury, Cousins expected to be back for second year with Redskins

Even before Robert Griffin III had knee surgery and made Kirk Cousins so clearly indispensable to the Washington Redskins as their possible fill-in starter at quarterback, Cousins was convinced he wouldn't be traded and would be back with the team for his second NFL season. Read full article >>

Updates on J.C. Romero, Bill Bray, as opt-out dates loom; Christian Garcia's progress

Two left-handed relievers the Nationals hoped would provide depth have both landed on the disabled list in the minors with shoulder injuries. J.C. Romero, the veteran left-hander, experienced shoulder stiffness earlier this month that the Nationals consider a minor issue. Bill Bray, the left-handed reliever the Nationals believed could compete for a bullpen spot entering spring training, also re

RGIII, cake pans, wedding registries and fandom

"People invest in stocks because they want to become of a part of the rise of a company," Redskins fan Shawn Basak told me earlier this week, explaining why he bought an 8-inch cake pan for Robert Griffin III. "This is a little bit of the same thing. He's someone I think everyone feels a bond with. He's someone I'm probably never going to meet, but now I have this very odd relationship with, bec

Biggest disappointments of 2013 MLB season so far

In the offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays 20 years removed from their last playoff appearance, with just one finish higher than third since made perhaps the loudest pronouncements in baseball. They all but imported a new team, adding all-stars to the rotation (Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and reigning National League Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey) and the lineup (shortstop Jose Reyes). They quickly be

D.C. United news and notes

*D.C. United defender Dejan Jakovic has a strained groin and will be a game-time decision Saturday night against the Portland Timbers at RFK Stadium, Coach Ben Olsen said on Friday.Jakovic did some work during closed training, Olsen said. Read full article >>

'Doin' It In The Park' hoops documentary evokes memories of D.C. playground scene

While many basketball fans spent Wednesday speculating on who the Wizards might pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, a different night of hoops was happening in Columbia Heights.At the Gala Theatre, hip-hop ambassador and basketball lifer Bobbito Garcia screened his film, "Doin It In The Park," to a somewhat star-studded crowd. The film, which Garcia made with Kevin Couliau, explores the world of

Third-round tight end Jordan Reed signs his contract

The Washington Redskins have signed tight end Jordan Reed to his rookie contract, the team announced Friday.Drafted in the third round (85th overall) out of Florida, the 6-foot-2, 236-pound Reed began his college career as a quarterback before switching positions and lining up at tight end, H-back and receiver. In his final college season, Reed led Florida with 45 catches for 559 yards and th

Best Week in Washington Sports: Ernie Grunfeld

_My colleague Chris Cillizza has a great weekly feature called "Worst Week in Washington," where he spotlights a political figure who has landed on the wrong side of the press. I'm stealing a page out of his playbook, and it was my original intention to award a "Worst Week" to a D.C. sports figure every Friday. But I'm generally not a cranky person, so I decided that the Bog version should be a

What if the Nationals had kept Michael Morse?

In the winter, the logic of the Nationals signing Adam LaRoche, trading for Denard Span and dealing Michael Morse made perfect sense. They were keeping respected a left-handed bat for the middle of the order, adding an elite center fielder who provided top-of-the-order on-base and using an apparent roster redundancy to restock their minor league pitching depth. Read full article >>

Maryland women's lacrosse team is intense, possessed

Alex Prewitt did a fine job explaining how intensely focused the top-ranked Maryland women's lacrosse team is on the national championship entering Friday's semifinals."They have a goal," Coach Cathy Reese said, explaining why there was a muted celebration after the Terps' quarterfinal win. "They're on a mission, and that's a piece of it. I'm like, 'We need to celebrate our successes. This is

Brandon Meriweather should be fine for training camp, Mike Shanahan says

Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said he expects safety Brandon Meriweather, who's working his way back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, to be "fine" for training camp."I think Brandon will be fine once we get to camp. He did a good job in his drill work," Shanahan said following Thursday's offseason practice at Redskins Park. "The one thing you don't want to do when som

FOX Sports 1 s RGIII promo

The first mention I can find of Robert Griffin III in Nexis came in the summer of 2004, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It was beneath a story about then-7-year old tennis star Domonique Garley, who was competing on the u-10 and u-12 circuits because she was so dominant. Read full article >>

Walter Barrera’s 12-million step recovery program

Walter Barrera fills a bottle with tap water and electrolyte powder, shaking the solution as he walks down the stairs of his porch. Cold raindrops are falling, and he looks at the gray sky. “Not good,” the 32-year-old Northeast Washington resident says, shaking his head because rain threatening a long run is more than just bad luck. It could disrupt the rhythm of his day and his week, and if

Ryan Zimmerman's 'A Night at the Park' raises more than $300k

"A Night at the Park" is Ryan Zimmerman's annual event to benefit his foundation, the ziMS Foundation. The organization was created to raise money and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis, a disability his mother was diagnosed with in 1995. Read full article >>