Johnny Cash » Cousins first start of the season — "Le

WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg turned in a strong outing and the bats produced another bunch of runs. After two months of mediocrity, perhaps the Washington Nationals have turned the page. Strasburg struck out 11 in seven innings Wednesday night and the Nationals kept the Philadelphia Phillies bats quiet yet again in an 8-4, rain-interrupted win. The Nationals have won four of five, outscoring the Texas Rangers and Phillies 34-10 during that span. True, five games represent barely more than 3 per cent of the regular-season schedule, but they had to start somewhere. "Its been a lot of fun for us, pitching the ball good and swinging the bat well," said leadoff hitter Denard Span, who had two doubles and two RBIs. "Hopefully we keep it going." Strasburg (5-4) had the Phillies flailing as he hit double digits in Ks for the 15th time in his career -- and for the fourth time without issuing a walk. Ten of the right-handers 11 strikeouts were swinging, including Marlon Byrd (95 mph fastball), Ryan Howard (95 mph fastball) and Domonic Brown (88 mph change-up) when the rain started to fall in the sixth inning. "Facing a lefty-heavy lineup is difficult," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "But he used his changeup really well and spotted his fastball." The only consolation for the Phillies is that they scored an earned run for the first time in four games when facing the Nationals ace. The streak reached 25 innings before Philadelphia crossed the plate twice in the fifth -- once earned, once unearned. John Mayberry Jr. added a two-run pinch-hit homer in the seventh, but by then Strasburg had been working with a cushion of a half-dozen runs. The tarp came out shortly afterward, delaying the game for 1 hour, 48 minutes. Anthony Rendon finished with three hits and three RBIs, including a solo homer. Danny Espinosa had a two-run double that was a foot or so away from a grand slam, and Strasburg himself added a single, walk and run scored for the Nationals, who are above .500 for the first time in two weeks. "The offence has kind of kicked it back in," Williams said. Philadelphias A.J. Burnett (3-5) again had control issues in his worst outing of the season. Tied for the majors lead in walks entering the game, he issued four more free passes, including back-to-back walks in Washingtons four-run fourth and a walk to Strasburg in the three-run sixth. "Theyre unaggressive walks. I dont care if theres a base open. Thats not me," Burnett said. "Thats putting me in passive mode. Thats my fault. Ive got to go after hitters. I dont care if a base is open. I dont care whos up. I mean, thats not who I am. Ill take six aggressive walks over boo-boo walks that are 3-0 sliders, 3-0 curveballs or whatever it is." Burnett allowed eight runs over six innings. He was particularly bothered by the home run he gave up to Rendon in the fifth immediately after the Phillies had cut a 4-0 lead to 4-2. "For somebody who harps on shutdown innings, Im pretty (bad) at it," he said. "And I will be better. Guys throws up runs, you need to put up zeroes after that." The Phillies have lost five straight and are an NL-worst 9-19 since May 4. "Sun is going to come up, believe or not," Burnett said. "It might be a little cloudy." NOTES: It was Burnetts first loss against the Expos-Nationals franchise since April 8, 2002, when his Florida Marlins fell 10-2 to Montreal. He had been 5-0 in nine starts and one relief appearance against the franchise since then. ... Phillies leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins had the first four-strikeout game of his 15-year career. ... Mayberry has three pinch-hit homers this season. ... X-rays taken Wednesday on Darin Ruf were negative a day after the Phillies outfielder collided with a concrete wall during a game with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Ruf has a sprained left wrist and a cut on his right knee that required stitches, but he has no broken bones. He is on the seven-day disabled list. Basketbalové Boty Adidas . -- EJ Manuel followed the worst game of his career with the best. Boty Nmd Levne . He insists hes not counting. "If youre thinking hits, youre not paying attention to wins," Altuve said Sunday after leading the Houston Astros past the Texas Rangers 3-2. http://www.botynmdlevne.com/ . - The Raiders have released guard Mike Brisiel after two disappointing seasons in Oakland. Adidas Nmd r1 Damske Levne . 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. Pánské Basketbalové Boty Adidas . Defenceman Tessa Bonhomme was among three players released from the team Tuesday morning along with defenceman Brigette Lacquette of Waterhen, Man.ASHBURN, Va. - Mike Shanahan said he has no plans to resign, then reminded everyone that he might not be back as coach of the Washington Redskins. He then cryptically offered a picture of the possible changes that might be in store if he does return. He dropped Gary Kubiaks name twice, stoking questions that there might be a new offensive co-ordinator. He also said that Robert Griffin III is "clearly" the starting quarterback but would welcome "legitimate competition" from Kirk Cousins. Just another day in the world of the Redskins. Shanahan said Monday it was "accurate" that he doesnt plan to quit after what will be his third losing season in four years. The Redskins (3-11) have lost six straight, and the coach has one year remaining on his five-year, $35 million contract. However, he reiterated that his fate wont be determined until he and owner Dan Snyder meet at the end of the season and discuss their views about the direction of the franchise. "All we can do at the end of the season is communicate," Shanahan said. "And I think we have that type of relationship where we can talk and be honest to each other." One possibility is the Shanahan returns with a new set of co-ordinators. Defensive co-ordinator Jim Haslett could surely be on the bubble, given the way the defence has performed, but a change on the other side had seemed improbable because the coachs son, Kyle Shanahan, is the offensive co-ordinator. Yet Kyle Shanahan last week sounded like someone pitching himself for a new job and expressed annoyance that people "always put an s on the last name of the Shanahans" when discussing the Redskins, a first possible hint that the father-son experiment had run its course. Mike Shanahan gave a rambling answer Monday when asked about his co-ordinators and mentioned Kubiak, who was the coachs longtime offensive co-ordinator with the Denver Broncos and who is out of work — having been recently fired by the Houston Texans. "It doesnt matter if Gary Kubiak is my offensive co-ordinator, Mike Heimerdinger, Jim Haslett — a co-ordinators a co-ordinator," Shanahan said. "Theyve got a job to do. And theyre going to do it. If they dont do it, then the channces are theyre not going to be a co-ordinator for long.dddddddddddd That has nothing to do with anybody in particular. But theyve got some autonomy there in relative to their position, if its Jim, if its Kyle — obviously I get involved with all the football matters, and I will be heavily involved on both sides." Mike Shanahan also named Kubiak and Haslett as examples of people who might have connections to the people have leaking various stories about the Redskins in recent weeks. Then theres the question of the quarterback dynamic if Mike Shanahan returns. With Griffin benched for the rest of the year, Cousins threw for 381 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in Sundays 27-26 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Thats more yards than Griffin has tallied in any of 28 starts, and Cousins better pocket presence was evident as he took only one sack and led scoring drives late in both halves before an incomplete pass on a 2-point conversion attempt in the final minute settled the game. The coach cautioned that it was Cousins first start of the season — "Lets not get carried away with one game," he said — but he walked a fine line when discussing the quarterback situation for next season. "The thing that you want on your football team is that you want competition, legitimate competition," Mike Shanahan said. "The better players you have, the more people compete. When you look behind your shoulder and you know that guys pretty good, it makes you work a little bit harder. "Robert is clearly our starting quarterback ... I think Roberts got a lot of confidence in himself and he should," the coach added. "Hes got all the ability in the world and he will get better and better every day. And I think thats one of the reasons why we decided to not play him for the last three games. We wanted him to go into the off-season fully healthy." Notes: Rookie TE Jordan Reed, the teams second leading receiver, is still experiencing headaches from the concussion he suffered Nov. 17 against Philadelphia. Reed missed his fourth consecutive game Sunday. ... FB Darrel Young aggravated his hamstring injury and could be sidelined again for next weeks game against Dallas. ' ' '