With the Washington Wizards season over, having secured their fifth consecutive season under 30 wins, and the Washington Redskins looking ahead to the NFL Draft, we have just the Washington Nationals and Washington Capitals involved in the current DC Pro Sports Stock Report.  So, let's take a look at who we have on the UP report and who we have ont he DOWN report.  

So who gets a THUMBS UP?

Alexander Ovechkin.  He is one of the hottest players in the National Hockey League.  Ovi has clearly embraced and has grow fond and comfortable in the new system of bench boss Adam Oates.  In fact, you can say that Ovi has returned to old form under Oates.  That is a good thing considering both will be in Washington for years to come.  Ovechkin is clearly the main reason the Capitals went from last in the Eastern Conference to the lead in the Southeast Division and own the NHL's longest winning streak, now at 8 straight games.  In the 8 games in April, in which the Caps are 8-0, Ovi has scored 9 goals and added 4 helpers.  He now leads the NHL in goals (28), is fourth overall in points (48) and leads the NHL in shots (198).  He also become the most powerful force on the power play, just like years past, leading the NHL with 15 power play tallies, 6 ahead of the nearest skater.  

Nicklas Backstrom.  Another big part of Ovechkin's surge has been the synergy with Nicklas Backstrom.  Backstrom has rejoined Ovi on the top line and has had a terrific April, notching 13 assists in 8 games, most of those to Ovechkin.  He has regained the mantle as one of the NHL's most prolific passers.  He is 11th overall in the NHL in points (44) and third overall in assists (38).  Backstrom has also posted a .513 faceoff percentage.

Ross Detwiler dominates the Miami Marlins in a 6-1 Nats win

Ross Detwiler threw 107 pitches in Miami last night -- almost all of them fastballs -- and it was enough to dominate once again, only this time his relief pitching didn't screw him over and the Washington Nationals walked away with a 6-1 win. The victory improves the Nationals to 9-6, good for second place in the NL East with a big divisional series against the Mets coming up this weekend in Queens. 

In a rotation with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman and Dan Haren, Detwiler is often forgotten and he's certainly not the name people remember. He's been the best pitcher on the staff through three starts this season, but only got his first win last night because the bullpen has not been able to hold the leads he's handed them. That wasn't a problem last night, though, as Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano shut the door for once, combining for two hitless, scoreless innings with three strikeouts between them.

Detwiler was fantastic again, pitching 7 innings and giving up only 7 hits and one run while striking out five and walking none. The performance lowers his ERA to 0.90, sixth-lowest in the Majors. That number would be even lower if not for a blown call at home plate by umpire Greg Gibson, who started to call Chris Valaika out after he was clearly tagged by catcher Kurt Suzuki, but Gibson changed the call at the last second.

Manager Davey Johnson came out to argue, to no avail. "I said, `You had it right, and then you changed it," Johnson said. "We survived it."

It wasn't all good pitching, though. The Nats got some good hitting from Bryce Harper, Steve Lombardozzi, Kurt Suzuki and Adam LaRoche. Harper, his head and stomach reeling from the flu, broke out of his recent slump and went 4-5, with a double, a run and an RBI to raise his batting average to .364. Lombardozzi, batting second, went 2-5 with a run, boosting his batting average to .381. LaRoche went 2-4 with a run and RBI, while Suzuki swung the big wood, going 2-3 with a double,a 5th-inning home run, 2 runs and 2 RBI. Suzuki is now hitting .360 and leading the team with .800 slugging percentage. 

The Nationals began to take control of the game in the second inning when LaRoche and Ian Desmond both singled and were driven in by a Roger Bernandina groundout RBI and a Suzuki sacrifice fly. That 2-0 lead held until the top of the 5th, when Suzuki led off the inning by swattiing a 3-2 pitch 377 feet over the left field wall for a 3-0 lead. The Marlins cut the lead back to two when the scored their phoney-baloney run thanks to a missed call by the home plate umpire. 

The Nats got it back in the 6th when Bryce Harper scored after Adam LaRoche singled to left. They were not done. In the seventh, Lombardozzi singled to center, getting Suzuki across the plate to increase the lead to 5-1. In the 9th, Jayson Werth walked and eventually scored when Harper scratched out an infield single to shortstop. That put the lead ta 6-1, the final score. 

Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) were swept in a double header by Buffalo last evening.  They lost Game 1 4-3.  The Chiefs offense only collected 5 hits during the game.,  Mike Costanzo drove in 2 runs and Jeff Kobernus double din a run.  Ryan Ohlendorf (2-1) took the loss in his third start, allowing 5 hits and 4 runs over 4.2 innings. 

In Game 2, the Chiefs fell 5-4.  Jimmy Van Ostrand, Costanzo, Zack Walters, and Carlos Rivero each had two hits.  Van Ostrand raised his season batting average to .433.  Ryan Tatusko pitched 3 innings and allowed 4 hits and 3 runs.  Michael Crotto blew the win and took the loss allowing a run over 2 innings. 

Harrisburg Senators (AA) were off last night. 

Potomac Nationals (A) won 4-2.  Jason Martinson was 2 for 4 and raised his season average to .326.  Adrian Sanchez was 2 for 4 with a double and drove in 2 runs.    Cole Leonida homered in the ninth inning.   Taylor Jordan is off to an impressive start, as expected.  Jordan tossed 7 innings and scattered 6 hits with no runs allowed.  He fanned 5 batters.  In 3 starts, Jordan is 1-0 with a 0.95 ERA.  Tyler Herron p[picked up the save, throwing 2 scoreless and hitless innings.  He fanned 5. 

Hagerstown Suns (A) won 3-1.  Tony Renda was 2 for 4 with an RBI.  The 2012 second round draft pick is 6 for 12 with 3 RBI in his last 4 games and has raised his batting average to .255 after a slow season start.  Wander Ramos is off to a fantastic start and continued last night going 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBI.  He raised his batting average to .353.  He is 4 for 7 with a double, triple, and home run in his last two games.  The Nats 3rd round pick is off to a great start as well.  Brett Mooneyham threw 4.1 scoreless and hitless inning with 2 strikeouts.  His season ERA was lowered to 0.63.   In three starts, Mooneyham has allowed 1 run over 14.1 innings.  He has only allowed 4 combined hits.  Brian Rauh (1-0) earned the win, throwing 3.2 innings and fanning 5 batters.  Robert Benincasa picked up his third save. 

MINOR LEAGUE NOTES:

The Nationals lost one of their top prospects for an extended period of time.  The promising third baseman Matthew Skole will be undergoing Tommy John surgery.  In some reports, Skole was ranked the 11th best prospect in the Nats system.  I would have rated him higher than that.  He was the Nationals minor league system MVP last season.  He is having TJ surgery on his left UCL, which is his non-throwing arm.  Skole racked up 27 homers and 104 RBI while batting a solid .290 last season for Potomac and Harrisburg. Recovery shoudl not be as long or as extensive for Skole considering it is his non-throwing arm. 

Francisco Soriano and Randolp Oduber were promoted from Potomac to Harrisburg.  Steve Souza was placed on the 7 day DL by Harrisburg.  Khayyan Norfolk was promoted to Potomac from Hagerstown after Blake Kelso was palced on the 7 day DL by Pootmac. 

August 29, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins' offensive players line up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defends at FedEx Field. The Redskins won 30-3.

The NFL previously released the Washington Redskins preseason schedule for 2013, but it was incomplete, lacking times and exact dates for all the games, apart from the one on Monday night. Now, the full preseason schedule has been released. 

So the Redskins have two home games -- against the Steelers and Bills -- and two road games -- against the Titans and Buccaneers. The last game, against Tampa, is the only one featuring an NFC opponent. It's unusual to play the Titans, but the Redskins have played the Steelers and Bills in the preseason on many occasions and played the Buccaneers last year in the preaseason, as well as the regular season. 

One unusual feature is the afternoon game against the Bills. That's the third preseason game, traditionally the most important game, where the starters often play to halftime or even beyond. 

Don't expect to see QB Robert Griffin III in any of these games. 

Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) were postponed last night.

Harrisburg Senators (AA) lost 4-3 in 10 innings.  They fall to 7-6 on the season.  Sandy Leon was 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI.  The Senators offense only generated 5 hits on the night.  Paul Demny allowed 10 hits and 3 runs over 5.2 innings.  Marcus Frias blew the win, allowing 2 hits and a run.

Potomac Nationals won 3-2 in 10 innings improving to 5-6 overall.  Michael Taylor was 3 for 5 with a run scored.  Jason Martinson was 2 for 4 and raised his batting average to .310.  Cutter Dykstra was 2 for 6 with a run and 2 RBi.  He is batting an impressive .417.  Robbie Ray put up a nice start, throwing 6 innings and allowing 4 hits and 1 run while fanning 4.  His lowered his ERA to 2.12.  Richie Mirkowski picked up the win, throwing 2 scoreless innings.  He starts the season with a 1.29 ERA out of the Nationals bullpen.

Hagerstown Suns (A) won 11-2 to improve to 7-6 on the season.  Tony Renda was 2 for 4 and raised his batting average to .235 after a slow start.  He is batting .308 over his last 7 games.  Wander Ramos swung the big bat, going 2 for 3 with a double and a home run while accounting for 3 of the Suns runs.  Brandon Miller was 1 for 4 with a grand slam home run.  Shawn Pleffner also had a double and home run while driving in 2 runs.  Brian Dupra threw 5.1 innings in relief to earn the win, allowing 8 hits and 2 runs.  Will Hudgins pitched 3 scoreless and hitless innings of relief to earn the save. 

Miami Marlins center fielder Justin Ruggiano (right) celebrates with catcher Rob Brantly (second from right) after defeating the Washington Nationals 8-2 at Marlins Park.

The Washington Nationals fell 7 runs behind tonight in Marlins Park as both pitching and hitting abandoned them. The Miami Marlins eventually won the game 8-2, dropping the suddenly-disappointing Nats to 8-6 and 2-3 on the road. The Nats have now lost 4 of 5 and their pitching, thought to be a team strength, is a complete disaster.

Two-thirds of the outfield and the top third of the lineup were out last night with the flu, as manager Davey Johnson sat Denard Span and Bryce Harper. Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore took their places, making the lineup look like this: 

RF Jayson Werth
CF Roger Bernadina
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
LF Tyler Moore
2B Steve Lombardozzi
C Kurt Suzuki
RHP Dan Haren

Dan Haren lasted barely over 4 innings before being pulled, giving up 7 runs and 7 hits. Only three of those runs were earned, thanks to Ryan Zimmerman's fourth error of the season. Haren's ERA through three starst -- two awful and one mediocre -- is 8.1 and I'm wondering why the team wouldn't be better with the younger and cheaper John Lannan. The bullpen wasn't much better, with both Craig Stammen and Henry Rodriguez struggling to throw strikes and get outs. 

Things started well enough for the Nats, with Jayson Werth leading off the game with a single and Zimmerman reaching on a walk. However, Roger Bernandina hit into a 4-6-3 double play to ruin the inning. 

Haren looked good through three innings and in the third he retired the side on a strikeout and two ground ball outs. It appeared as if he was finally going to throw a good game. But that's when everything fell apart. Zimmerman made a bad throw on a routine play to pull first baseman Adam LaRoche off the bag, allowing Placido Polanco to reach safely. That's the third error in the last five games for Zim. The Marlins followed it up with two singles and a 3-run homer by Adeiny Echavarria to put Miami up 4-0 by the time the bottom of the fourth inning was over.

Things got even more embarrassing in the fifth inning, as Roger Bernandina, hitless so far this season, was called out for running outside the basepaths to first base. Since Bernadina was actually running on the grass, not the dirt path, it looked like the correct call to me and an obvious attempt to interfere with a fielding throw.  

In the Marlins side of the fifth, Haren's poor pitching continued, as he gave up three singles and then issued his first walk of the season, sending home a run. Johnson lifted Haren after one out in the fifth, so Haren has yet to make it to the 6th inning yet this season. 

Craig Stammen entered the game and gave up a 2-run double to Justin Ruggiano, with both runs being charged to Haren. The Nats trailed 7-0 and on a night when their bats were largely silent, that was more than enough. 

The Nats broke their shutout in the sixth, with two runs off Miami starter Alex Sanabia. Doubles by Adam LaRoche, Steve Lombardozzi and Tyler Moore plated the runs, with LaRoche and Moore both scoring. 

The next inning, Henry Rodgriguez let Juan Pierre get on base and then allowed him to steal second and third base. Pierre eventually scored, putting the Marlins up 8-2, the final margin for the game. 

Taking a look at some of the early season surprises.

Catcher

John Buck-  He has 6 HR and is batting .317 on the season.  Let's be realistic, he's likely not going to continue this pace.  Buck hasn't hit more than 20 HR in a season and is a career .236 hitter.  He's going to cool off, but he's still a Top 10 catcher.

Willin Rosario- Last year Rosario busted onto the scene with 28 HR in 117 games.  He's off to a hot start through 10 games with 4 HR and a .361 AVG.  He's young, he plays in Colorado and has a legitimate shot of being the No. 1 catcher for the season.

Evan Gattis-  With Brian McCann injured, Gattis has thrived.  In most leagues Gattis also has OF eligibility (and the Braves seem to be letting him play 1B once in a while too).  Ride the hot streak.

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The Washington Capitals continued their hot streak, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 5-1.  The win was the 8th consecutive win for the Caps as they remain undefeated in the month of April.  Overall, the Capitals are the hottest team in the NHL with the longest current winning streak and having won 13 out of their last 16 games.  

 The Caps took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after another defensive goal from Jack Hillen at the 14:27 mark.  Hillen, who has only scored a total of 13 goals in his 5 year career, has scored 3 of them in the last 5 games.  During the five games, Hillen has accumulated 6 points.  Hillen's 3rd tally of the season was assisted by Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr.   Caps out shot the Leafs 14-8 in the first period.

The Caps laid it on heavy in the second period putting up three more goals to increase the Caps lead to 4-0 at the end of the second period.  Martin Erat scored his 5th goal of the season and first tally as a Washington Capitals on a redirect of a shot by Alex Ovechkin, to give the Caps a 2-0 lead.  It was the fourth time this game that Ovi tried to deliver a deflection to the net.   A little over two minutes later, Troy Brouwer would strike on a direct assault ont he net to bury his 17th goal of the season and give the Caps a 3-0 lead.  Brouwer's goal was assisted by John Carlson and Erat.  The final marker of the second period was scored by Alex Ovechkin.  Ovi buried a long slapper past Toronto goalie Ben Scrivens to score his NHL leading 28th goal of the season.   Mike Green and Mike Ribeiro assisted Ovi's goal.  The Caps only out shot the Lefas 11-10 in the second, but 3 of those 11 counted. 

Mikhail Grabovski got the Leafs on the board in the third period at the 3:05 mark to pull the Leafs to within 3. Marcus Johansson put the Caps backup by 4 on a Caps power play score at the 9:02 mark.  Johansson tapped in a rebound left by Scrivens from a blast by Mike Green.  The Johansson power play marker woud be the final gol f the game.

The Caps win was the 20th win of the season for goalie Braden Holtby.  That puts Holtby in a tie for second in the NHL in wins.  

Multi-Point Scorers:

Mike Ribeiro, 2 assists

Martin Erat, 1 goal, 1 assist

Alex Ovechkin, 1 goal, 1 assist

Mike Green, 2 assists

John Carlson, 2 assists

We are only a handful of games into the minor league baseball season, but just like every year, we will bring you on a periodic basis an update on the Stat Leaders within the Washington Nationals minor league system.  Here are your current leaders early on:

Doubles: Kevin Keyes (A) 5, Jimmy Van Ostrand (AAA), Anthony Rendon (AA), Tony Renda (A), & Brandon Miller (A) 4

Triples:  Brian Goodwin (AA), Billy Burns (A) 2

Homers: Zack Walters (AAA), Jason Martinson (A) 4

Runs: Billy Burns (A) 10, Jeff Kobernus (AAA), Jason Martinson (A) 9

Stolen Bases: Jeff Kobernus (AAA), Mike McQuillan (A) 5, Billy Burns (A) 3

RBI: Jason Martinson (A) 11, Chris Marrero (AAA), Michael Taylor (A), Randolph Oduber (A) 9

Average:  Jeff Kobernus (AAA) .533, Jimmy Van Ostrand (AAA) .478, Billy Burns (A) .419, Cutter Dykstra (A) .400

Slugging: Jeff Kobernus (AAA) .767, Jason Martinson (A) .711, Steve Souza (AA) .667

Innings Pitched: Dixon Anderson (A) 17.2, Brian Broderick (AA) 16, Blake Treinen (AA) 14.2

Strikeouts: Dixon Anderson (A) 18, Blake Schwartz (A) 14, Tanner Roark (AAA), Robbie Ray (A), David Fischer (A) 12

ERA (2 starts at least)  Danny Rosenbaum (AAA) 0.82, Brett Mooneyham (A) 0.90, Taylor Jordan (A) 1.50, Ryan Ohendorf (AAA) 1.64, Blake Schwartz (A) 1.74

The Washington Nationals snapped a three game skid last night behind a complete game from Nats' starter Jordan Zimmermann and a 16 hit, 10 run onslaught of the Miami Marlins.  The win improved the Nats to 8-5 on the season. 3

One thing that has been unclear all season is how manager Davey Johnson would handle pitchers Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg late in the game.  Strasburg wondered that himself, whether he would have opportunities to go the distance.  Johnson answered that questions last night for Zimmermann, who is now three season removed from Tommy John surgery.  Zimmermann went the distance, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits while fanning 6 batters to stay perfect on the season.  Zimmermann threw 102 pitches over the nine innings, 70 for strikes.  In three starts, Zimmermann is now 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA.  Much like the end of the 2012 season, Zimmermann has easily been Washington's most effective starter so far in 2013. 

The other Zimmerman, Ryan Zimmerman, helped support his starting pitcher, going 2 for 5 with a home run and 4 RBI.  Zimmerman has an RBI single in the first inning that drive in Denard Span and Jayson Werth, and hit a two run home run in the fourth inning.  Tyler Moore, making his first start of the season filling in for Adam LaRoche, went 2 for 5 and drove in 3 runs.  Span added 2 hits and 2 RBI to the Nats' onslaught.  Ian Desmond continue to connect at the plate quite well, racking up a 4 hit night and scoring 2 runs.  Desmond raised his batting average to .320. 

Overall, the Nats had 7 players with a multi-hit game (Span (2), Werth (2), Zimmerman (2), Desmond (4), Moore (2), Lombardozzi (2), and Suzuki(2))

The Nats face the Marlins in game two of the series tonight.  Dan Haren will take the mound for the Nats and face Alex Sanabia.