Washington Nationals

With a batting average that still stands at just .219, LaRoche could still improve, yet he may actually be overowned right now.

Owners in 70 percent of our leagues are rostering LaRoche, and while he should be due for more hits in general and more doubles in particular, when the dust settles, he could easily remain outside the top 25 first basemen. LaRoche has been limited to three doubles in part because of apparent bad luck (1 for 31 on flyballs in play), but he is also striking out far too often. Even as he has heated up in May, LaRoche has 20 strikeouts in 65 at-bats this month.

Power binges come and go, but unless LaRoche starts making contact more often, the Nationals' first baseman may not help much beyond home runs and walks.

"I won't ever use this as an excuse," he told reporters after the injury was announced. "I haven't hit lately."

Espinosa is batting .150 in May and has three hits in his last 10 games. He will be shut down for a few days to rest before a determination on his long-term availability is made. Surgery is not currently being considered. 

Suzuki is batting .303 (10 for 33) with one double, two RBI, two runs and two walks in his last 10 games (nine starts).

Lombardozzi is hitting .220 in 91 at-bats. 

Strasburg pitched seven strong inning in the game, the third time in his last four starts he has gone at least seven innings. He held the Giants to just one run on five hits and three walks while striking out seven batters. He had nine groundball outs to just four fly ball outs, and allowed only singles in the outing.

Unfortunately, his strong effort was wasted, as the Nationals' bullpen allowed three runs in 2 1/3 innings, in a 10-inning, 4-2 loss. Strasburg remains 2-5 on the season, with a 2.66 ERA.

Strasburg will try to get back on the winning side in his next outing, scheduled for Monday against the Rays. 

In 18 games since his return, Zimmerman is hitting .313 with two home runs and 12 RBI, along with a .421 on-base percentage.

Zimmerman was hitting just .226 with one home run in 15 games prior to his injury. He has raised his average for the season to .274. 

Duke (0-1) took the defeat as he allowed four earned runs on seven hits and no walks spanning just 3 1/3 innings before giving way to Craig Stammen. He struck out just one and threw 58 pitches. 

The 30-year-old has made 10 appearances this season for Washington but this was his first as a starter. It is also likely his last for a while. His ERA is now at 8.84 on the year with a 1.80 WHIP. 

Harper went the other way with a solo home run in the sixth inning to open the scoring. He added a double in the 10th and came around to score the winning run in a 2-1 game.

Harper went 2 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. He struck out once. He's hitting .288 with 12 home runs, 23 RBI and a .994 on-base plus slugging percentage. 

Mattheus slammed his right (pitching) hand into his locker after Sunday's game against San Diego. The fracture will not require surgery but because he won't be able to move his pitching hand, the work required to get his arm back in shape will force him to miss at least a month.

Gonzalez held the Giants to a run in 7 1/3 innings. He walked Angel Pagan with one out in the eighth inning then was pulled for reliever Drew Storen. He allowed four hits and two walks, while striking out five. He threw a season-high 116 pitches.

Gonzalez, who has lowered his ERA to 3.66 with four quality starts in a row, will next start Tuesday against the Orioles. 

"The doctor said it was two weeks,” manager Davey Johnson said. "He told me that four days ago, so he’s probably got close to two weeks."