Washington Nationals place Ryan Madson on 10-Day DL with chest strain...

The hits keep coming for the Washington Nationals, who just got swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a two-day, three-game series in the nation’s capital, lost Howie Kendrick for the season to a ruptured achilles tendon, and have now placed reliever Ryan Madson on the DL with what Washington Post writer Chelsea Janes first reported is “a sore pectoral muscle”.

Madson, 37, hadn’t pitched since going in three of four games during the Nationals’ visit to Chase Field in Arizona last weekend, in spite of the fact that the team played a total of 5 ¹⁄₂ innings before the three with LA, with rain interrupting their homestand.

In an MLB Network Radio interview this week, the veteran reliever told hosts Brad Lidge and Casey Stern that he was sore after making going three times vs the D-backs and appearing in 21 of the Nationals’ first 45 games.

“You know, in Arizona I went three out of four, and on the fourth one they asked if I could get four outs,” Madson explained, “and I had gotten four outs my first appearance there, and then I got the save two days later, and then I was asked to do back-to-backs, to go three out of four, and, ‘Of course. Sure.’

“I was feeling good, no problem, because I think for some players, and for me, there’s a bounty out there to get. It’s like, hey your team wants you to go out there and get these outs, and there’s a bounty, there’s a half-million dollar bounty on these guys, you have to get four outs, and there’s a half-million dollar bounty, I’m going to go for it, that’s just how I am, how I’ve always been, and sometimes I’ll pay the price for that, you know, so I’m still a little sore from that series, a week — almost five days later, but it’s one of those things.

“When you’re asked to do it, you’re going to do it, I mean, that’s just the way it is.”

Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez told reporters on Saturday night that Madson was not available because he was dealing with pain in his chest.

After this afternoon’s loss to the Dodgers, the Nats made Madson’s trip to the DL official:

Madson has a 4.19 ERA, a 2.16 FIP, six walks (2.79 BB/9), 20 Ks (9.31 K/9), and .269/.333/.312 line against in 19 ¹⁄₃ IP.