Wire Taps: Washington Nationals Links, E-Jax Praise, Stephen Strasburg Roundtables.

• So after Nats' skipper Davey Johnson told Stephen Strasburg that he had 2-3 more starts left this season on the team plane on the way home from Miami, Edwin Jackson went out and pitched a gem for the Washington Nationals in last night's 8-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, prompting Jayson Werth to say, as quoted by the Washington Times' Amanda Comak, "People keep talking about [Stephen Strasburg]... You know, Edwin Jackson is a heck of a pitcher. He's a big game pitcher. Take Stras out and put Edwin in, I like it." Of course everyone would prefer to have Strasburg available for the postseason, for his sake (he's earned it) and the Nats' (cause Stras can be a dominant starter), but the Nationals knew the plan coming into the season and added pitchers like Gio Gonzalez and E-Jax and kept John Lannan around knowing that they'd need pitching to fill in for Stras at the end of the season... of course they couldn't have known (though Davey Johnson believed) that they'd be headed toward the first postseason appearance for a team based in D.C. since 1933. But they're being judged on that decisioon every day. MLB Network Radio is convening a roundtable to discuss the Strasburg shutdown at 3:30 pm EDT this afternoon. FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal is giving the Nats' GM advice on how he can flip the script on Stras' agent... It will never end. Not even after the Nationals' 2012 campaign ends. Just ignore it if you can't take anymore. But there's more Strasburg chatter below... Links and lots of them... RIGHT NOW!!!:

• THE BIG STORY!!!: (Today In Two Parts):

• "Oh, there’s a way out, if Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo wants it. All Rizzo needs to say is this..." - "Stephen Strasburg's Washington Nationals innings limit has solution" - Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports on MSN

• "At the All-Star Game, a longtime star asked me, 'Are the Nationals really going to do shut [Stephen] Strasburg down?'" - "The Nationals can survive the shutdown of Stephen Strasburg" - Buster Olney, ESPN

• NATS BEAT:

• "Despite his lack of homers, Werth has still been one the Nationals’ best hitters, and maybe the best." - "Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper give Nationals a dynamic 1-2 punch" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal

• "Maybe it was because their offense, suddenly sizzling again, got on the board first, powered by home runs from Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth." - "Edwin Jackson silences Cardinals' bats in Nationals win" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "Jackson couldn't be stopped. He spun eight sterling innings tonight, allowing just one unearned run and striking out 10." - "Nationals Pastime: Johnson discusses Jackson's sterling performance in 8-1 win" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "When they're both going well, [Jayson] Werth and [Bryce] Harper give the Nationals as potent a 1-2 punch atop their lineup as perhaps any team in baseball." - "Instant analysis: Nats 8, Cardinals 1" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "[Davey] Johnson said [Stephen] Strasburg is down to 'probably ... two or three' starts to go in the ace's first full season since undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery." - "Nats' Strasburg has 'probably' 2-3 starts to go" - Joseph White, AP/WTOP.com

• "[Edwin] Jackson is also piling up the strikeouts. The righty has 29 over his last three games, and 139 overall, which ranks third on the team. Jackson downplayed his strikeouts." - "St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals - August 30, 2012" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com WSH Recap

• "The Washington Nationals‘ bullpen may be the most distinctive subgroup within the team: a cluster of seven pitchers caged together in one little space every day..." - "The Nationals bullpen: ‘It’s our little fraternity out there, our own little team’" - James Wagner, Nationals Journal

• "Asked earlier this week about the health of his shoulder, Zimmerman was nonchalant." - "Ryan Zimmerman's season changed after third cortisone shot" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "Nationals rookie outfielder Bryce Harper gets frustrated over his own failure and reacts like, well, the teenager that he is." - "Getting tossed should be lesson for Nationals' Harper" - Brian McNally, WashingtonExaminer.com

• "A day after outfielder Bryce Harper was ejected for throwing his helmet in front of first-base umpire C.B. Bucknor, Nationals manager Davey Johnson said Harper reminds him of former infielder Gregg Jefferies..." - "Davey likens fiery Harper to former Met Jefferies" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "[Edwin] Jackson has had a few outings this season, however, in which he shows how special a pitcher he can be." - "Nationals Pastime: Clubhouse quotes from a host of Nats" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "'People keep talking about Stras. You know, Edwin Jackson is a heck of a pitcher,' Jayson Werth said following Thursday night's 8-1 triumph over the Cardinals." - "Jackson's gem kicks off homestand" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "With September arriving this weekend and Strasburg sitting at 150 1/3 innings, the Nationals ace’s season will end within a handful of starts." - "Stephen Strasburg told he has ‘a few more’ starts left" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal

• "The Nationals, now 5 1/2 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East, have recovered from scoring six runs over a five-game losing streak by plating eight apiece in back-to-back wins." - "St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals - August 31, 2012" - Andrew Simon, MLB.com Preview

• "The Cardinals' only extra-base hit was pinch-hitter Bryan Anderson's shot down the right-field line in the eighth that first baseman Adam LaRoche almost got a handle on." - "Jackson's fast start fuels big win for Nats over Cardinals at home" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• "You sometimes need an elite athlete with a hero complex who is so arrogant that he really thinks he’s bigger than the team’s slump..." - "Bryce Harper’s talent, temper battle for upper hand" - Thomas Boswell, The Washington Post

• "[Jayson] Werth said he's seen himself as the same type of hitter since he was 8 years old and even his father has tried to get him to take fewer pitches." - "Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper getting comfortable atop Nationals' lineup" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "Nationals manager Davey Johnson said he considers reliever Drew Storen a closer even though the ninth inning has gone to Tyler Clippard this season." - "Clippard still Nats closer, but Storen impresses" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the first inning and gave starting pitcher Edwin Jackson all the support he would need." - "Harper, Jackson boost Nationals over the Cardinals" - Brian McNally, WashingtonExaminer.com

• "Bryce Harper is starting to look like the Bryce Harper we saw in May and June." - "Nationals Pastime: Harper stays hot, Jackson dominating (Nats roll to 8-1 win)" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "We need to understand that material development by itself it doesn’t bring peace of mind. This can only be developed within the mind."

• NATS MINORS:

• Class-A Short Season Auburn: "The Auburn Doubledays (42-28) held leads of four runs and two runs against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (30-39) on Thursday night..." - "Doubledays cough up pair of leads in 8-6 loss" - Eli Pearlstein, Auburn Doubledays News

• Class-A Hagerstown: Grasshoppers 12, Suns 2 - Caleb Ramsey - 2 for 3, 1 2B; Brian Rauh - 2.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB - Hagerstown Suns Scoreboard

• "Nationals prospect Matt Skole was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Year today, after racking up 27 home runs and 92 RBIs for the low Single-A Hagerstown Suns this season." - "Matt Skole 'excited' to receive South Atlantic League MVP honor" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• Class-A Potomac: "The Potomac Nationals were eliminated from the second half playoff race losing to the Carolina Mudcats 3-1 tonight at Five County Stadium." - "P-Nats Eliminated from Playoffs with 3-1 Loss"- Potomac Nationals News

• Double-A Harrisburg: "The road portion of the Senators 2012 season came to an end on Thursday night with a 5-4 loss at the hands of the Richmond Flying Squirrels." - "Sens Walked Off in 5-4 Loss in Richmond" - Harrisburg Senators News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Left-hander John Lannan tossed his second straight complete-game shutout, becoming the first Syracuse pitcher with two shutouts this season, in his final start of the season for the Chiefs." - "Chiefs beat Knights behind Lannan's shutout" - Syracuse Chiefs News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "[John] Lannan threw 122 pitches, 83 strikes, had eight groundouts and got five flyouts. He faced 34 batters." - "John Lannan throws second-straight complete game shutout" - Ben Meyers, The Auburn Citizen

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

• NATSTOWN:

• "It's been one interesting week since my prediction that the Nationals would make the playoffs with the best record in baseball." - "A lesson to be found in losing streaks" - Nationals Buzz: Marty Niland, MASNSports.com

• "August 31, 1906 - Frank Delahanty of the Highlanders drills 2 homers, a triple, a single and drives home 7 RBI." - "This Date in Washington Senators History – See ya Bobo, Welcome back Bobo" - Art Audley, D.C. Baseball History

• "Anyhow, we haven’t yet heard from Obama (Real or Invisible versions), nor have we heard from Romney, but the Huffington Post was good enough to solicit Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s thoughts on the subject." - "Mitch McConnell supports Strasburg shutdown" - Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post

• "Not much for members of the Nationals bullpen to do on a night like tonight." - "Nats bullpen watching, waving to themselves on TV" - Nats Enquirer

• "[Edwin] Jackson (W, 8-9, 3.53) struck out seven of the first 12 batters he faced and was never really threatened by one of the N.L.’s top offenses." - "Washington Nationals Game 130 Review: Jackson strong; Nats pound Cardinals 8-1" - Dave Nichols, District Sports Page

• "Very early in the year, when the Nats pitching was looking like 4 Bob Gibsons and a Bob Welch (who was a pretty good pitcher mind you) I took at look at some of their stats." - "Pitching, Pitching, Pitching, Pitching, Pitching, Pi.." - Harper, Nationals Baseball

• "[Edwin] Jackson was at his absolute best on Thursday night against his former team, and it rivaled his complete game two-hitter way back on April 14." -"Nats Beat Cardinals Behind Edwin Jackson And The Bats" - Joe Drugan, The Nats Blog

• "The Washington Nationals continued their rebound from a terrible road trip with another eight run outburst last night." - "Harper, Werewerth, EJax lead Nats to 8-1 win over Cardinals" - William F. Yurasko, William World News

• "Unfortunately this year’s Nats photo will be missing one very important guy." - "Morning pixels: Nats team photo missing one important guy" - Sarah Kogod, DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post

• NL EAST UPDATES:

• Mets: "Jon Niese was running on empty because of the flu, but still managed to command his pitches effectively enough to give the Mets a chance yesterday." - "New York Mets lose to Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2" - Mike Puma, NYPOST.com

• Phillies: "It was just two weeks ago that Charlie Manuel met with Jimmy Rollins about his failure to run out a groundball against the Marlins." - "Manuel talks about benching Rollins" - David Murphy, Philly.com

• Braves: "Twelve months isn’t a lot of time to forget one of the worst collapses ever by a would-be postseason team." - "Braves say things are better as another September looms" - David O'Brien, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Marlins: "'It's time for this organization to move on and be tough on the players and do the right thing.'" - Ozzie Guillen - "Miami Marlins: No more coddling injured players — Guillen" - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com