Wire Taps: Washington Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman To Receive Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, Stephen Strasburg To Take On Colorado Rockies.

• Congrats, Zim: All the news about Ryan Zimmerman recently has been about the 27-year-old Washington Nationals' third baseman's injured shoulder, but on Monday morning the Nats announced that Zimmerman will be given an award for his philanthropic endeavors off the field. "This annual award is given to the MLB player who best exemplifies the philanthropic character of Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig off the field as well as his prowess on the field." Zimmerman is apparently the first winner of the award from in the history of the Expos/Nationals franchise. "Ryan’s commitment to the community is best illustrated through his work with the ziMS Foundation," the press release reads, "which aims to raise funds for multiple sclerosis awareness and programs that benefit those afflicted with MS." The ceremony to recognize Zimmerman receiving the award will take place on July 6th in Nationals Park. Tonight at Coors Field in Colorado, Nats' right-hander Stephen Strasburg looks for his seventh-straight win in his first career start against the Rockies. Game time 8:40 pm EDT tonight. Til then, it's links and lots of them, starting... RIGHT NOW!!!!

• THE BIG STORY!!!!:

• "The Nats’ current ERA+ is 135, which means, adjusted for fairly neutral Nats Park, they are 35 percent better than the major league norm in 2012. Where does that stand?" - "For now, Washington Nationals’ pitchers rank with best ever" - Thomas Boswell, The Washington Post

• NATS BEAT:

• "We got our first inkling this year of what a true Nationals-Orioles rivalry could be like." - "DALY: Real rivalry could be taking shape between the Beltways" - Dan Daly, Washington Times

• "[Sean] Burnett, who came into the ballgame with a stellar 1.04 ERA on the season, was tasked with holding a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning. Six pitches into his outing, the Orioles were up 2-1." - "Nationals Pastime: Nats bullpen finally serves one up" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "But the Nationals can ask their typically lights-out bullpen to protect such slim leads only so many times over a full season without accepting the occasional slip-up." - "One run won't cut it for Nats" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "[Bryce] Harper, or a representative, applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the phrase "That's a clown question, Bro" on June 13..." - "WTOP taste-tests 'Clown Question Bro' beer" - Neal Augenstein, WTOP.com

• "The Nationals still are in first place in the National League East, but they are smarting from a tough 2-1 loss to the Orioles in Sunday's Interleague finale." - "Washington Nationals at Colorado Rockies - June 25, 2012" - James Walker, MLB.com Preview

• "Manager Davey Johnson and pitching coach Steve McCatty could sense this wasn't the normally dominant Jackson outing, yet he set down the first 12 Orioles hitters." - "If Jackson is No. 4, then Nationals might have four No. 1 starters" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• "For now, [Drew] Storen, who saved 43 games for the Nationals in 2011 on a team that finished one game under .500, knows that's just news he's going to have to live with." - "Drew Storen: 'I know how baseball is, it's what have you done for me lately.'" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "[Ross] Detwiler said he didn’t feel tired later in the start, but his pitches indicated his arm hadn’t been stretched out this much in a while." - "Ross Detwiler shows renewed aggressiveness in first start back in the rotation" - James Wagner, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

• "After [Tyler] Clippard saved Saturday night's 3-1 win over the Orioles with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, manager Davey Johnson said Clippard will hold on to the closer's role." - "Storen heads to Florida as rehab winds down" - Mike Fiammetta, nationals.com: News

• "[Sean] Burnett had been stellar this year, pitching to an ERA of 1.04 and emerging as a setup man. In nine hold situations since Clippard took over as closer May 22, Burnett had been perfect." - "Nationals' bullpen fails to hold on in loss to Orioles" - Kevin Dunleavy, WashingtonExaminer.com

• "A tense interleague series between two neighboring teams with exceptional pitching staffs was decided by a timely swing from a player who almost got the day off." - "Orioles rally to beat Nationals 2-1" - David Ginsburg, AP/WTOP.com

• "With each night his average seemed to tumble, his shoulder discomfort finally getting bad enough that something had to be done, the answer for the Nationals was most often that there was no reason to panic." - "Lack of offense costly in Nationals' loss to Orioles" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "Honestly, there's not that much difference between the way the Nationals performed during their first 38 games and during these latest 32 games." - "A model of consistency" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "[Ross] Detwiler made a concerted effort to be more aggressive yesterday, a mentality he tried to carry over from his time working out of the bullpen. It was there where he learned he didn't have time to mess around with hitters." - "Nationals Pastime: Looking back on a tough five-week span" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "The possibility exists that Zimmerman will require offseason surgery to go in and clean out some of the bone chips or fragments that are causing his inflammation..." - "Ryan Zimmerman receives cortisone shot, hopes to avoid DL" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "[Ryan] Zimmerman received the cortisone shot at roughly 12:30 p.m., about an hour before first pitch. Before this afternoon, Zimmerman’s shoulder ailment had sapped him of strength and bat speed." - "Ryan Zimmerman receives cortisone shot before breakout game, plans to play through shoulder injury all season" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

• "[Ryan] Zimmerman said the plan moving forward is for him to play through the pain with the aid of the shots. He added that he'll 'definitely be fine' with this shot until the All-Star break, which begins on July 9." - "Zimmerman gets cortisone shot in right shoulder" - Mike Fiammetta, nationals.com: News

• "How long he stays in the rotation this time will be determined in part by how aggressively [Ross] Detwiler pitches." - "The Baseball Page: June 24, 2012" - Brian McNally, WashingtonExaminer.com

• "Barely 24 hours after finally admitting his shoulder is bothering him and affecting his performance, it was only fitting that Zimmerman delivered his first two-hit game in weeks..." - "Instant analysis: Orioles 2, Nats 1" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "Despite talk last night of [Ryan] Zimmerman possibly going on the disabled list, that's not the plan at this point." - "Nationals Pastime: Zimmerman has painkilling shot, hopes to avoid DL stint" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "For now, [Drew] Storen, who saved 43 games for the Nationals in 2011 on a team that finished one game under .500, knows that's just news he's going to have to live with." - "Drew Storen: 'I know how baseball is, it's what have you done for me lately.'" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "Injury has claimed all of Nationals reliever Drew Storen’s season so far. Now the strong performance of his close friend and roommate, Tyler Clippard, as the team’s closer has put him in an awkward spot." - "Nationals reliever Drew Storen : ‘I have all the confidence in the world that I can come back and close games’" - James Wagner, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

• "After a nearly month-long absence from the Nationals' starting rotation, Ross Detwiler returned with an efficient scoreless outing Sunday afternoon." - "Washington Nationals at Baltimore Orioles - June 24, 2012" - Mike Fiammetta, MLB.com WSH Recap

• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "Through constant training we can enhance our positive attitudes and thoughts and reduce their opposing negative attitudes."

• NATS MINORS:

• Class-A Short Season Auburn: "RHP Silvio Medina started for the Doubledays and allowed one run on one hit over four innings." - "Doubledays avoid sweep with 6-5 win in Williamsport" - Auburn Doubledays News

• Class-A Short Season Auburn: "Tony Renda drove in his first two runs as a professional including Wes Schill in the top of the tenth inning as the Auburn Doubledays avoided a sweep with a 6-5 win over the Williamsport Crosscutters on Sunday." - "Auburn gets win in series finale in Williamsport" - Ben Meyers, The Auburn Citizen

• Class-A Hagerstown: Lakewood 5, Hagerstown 3 - Steven Souza 1 for 4, 1 HR; Alex Meyer - 6.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 11 K's - Hagerstown Suns Scoreboard

• Class-A Hagerstown: "A big part of that power display was from outfielder Brian Goodwin, the 34th overall selection in 2011, who smashed two homers and drove in four runs." - "Hagerstown's Goodwin, Skole shine; Perry solid in Double-A; Marrero optioned to Chiefs" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• Class-A Potomac: "In eight innings of work, [Nathan] Karns struck out a career-high 11 batters surrendering just one run on two hits." - "Karns Ks 11 in Potomac Win" - Potomac Nationals News

• Double-A Harrisburg: "Zach Walters hit his first AA home run, but the Senators still fell short in falling to New Hampshire 5-3 on Sunday afternoon." - "Walters Homers but Sens Fall Short 5-3 in NH" - Terry Byrom, Harrisburg Senators News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Henry Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his second save of the win streak." - "Streak continues with win over Braves" - Syracuse Chiefs News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Syracuse fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first, but a lead-off double by Corey Brown and a single by Erik Komatsu (see below) turned into a three-run first inning rally for the Chiefs." - "Zach Duke leads IL in Wins, Brett Carroll up to 13-game hit streak, Corey Brown and Carlos Rivero 12-game hit streaks, Erik Komatsu 4-for-5" - Ben Meyers, The Auburn Citizen

• "Monday’s News & Notes" - Luke Erickson, NationalsProspects.com

• NATSTOWN:

• "The three contests played by the Orioles and Nationals this weekend were more like soccer matches, as fans watched for small shifts in momentum amid long scoreless stretches." - "Pitching to contact" - Nationals Buzz: Ted Leavengood, MASNSports.com

• "Excelsior Base Ball Club of Arundel" - Karen and Kevin Flynn, D.C. Baseball History

• "Seems only fitting that the only run the Nats could muster was delivered by Ryan Zimmerman (2-4, RBI) and his bum shoulder." - "We need to score more. That's not in question." - NatsEnquirer

• "They aren't quite out of the woods yet. This is their 'no break' part of the schedule and they go from Baltimore, to Colorado, to Atlanta." - "Monday Quickie" - Harper, Nationals Baseball

• "The Nats had a bit of a rough weekend, losing to their alleged "rivals" the Baltimore Orioles in 2 out of 3 games." - "Bad Weekend, Good Month" - The Nationals Review

• "With the incredible Washington Nationals starting pitching staff this season, many have completely forgotten about John Lannan toiling down in Triple-A Syracuse." - "Could We See John Lannan In July?" - Joe Drugan, The Nats Blog

• NL EAST UPDATES:

• Mets: "The best part of the Subway Series — the part that it has been missing the last few years — is the thrill of having both teams in their respective pennant chases..." - "The Subway Series Is Great for Everybody But the Mets" - Will Leitch, New York Magazine

• Phillies: "The Phillies, who are nine games out in the NL East, swept a three-game set from the Pirates at home last year. They will send a struggling Joe Blanton to the mound on Monday..." - "Pittsburgh Pirates at Philadelphia Phillies - June 25, 2012" - Andrew Simon, MLB.com Preview

• Braves: "The Braves wrapped up their interleague schedule in a less-than-ideal fashion, losing the last two games of a three-game series at Fenway Park." - "Atlanta Braves at Boston Red Sox Series Recap" - TonyAlmeyda, Talking Chop

• Marlins: "Hanley Ramirez has never been one to speak up or take command of the Marlins clubhouse." - "Miami Marlins break six-game losing streak in blow-out of Toronto Blue Jays" - Manny Navarro, MiamiHerald.com