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WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg is getting a different type of shutdown, a stint on the disabled list because of a strained muscle in his back. The Washington Nationals placed their top-of-rotation pitcher on the 15-day DL on Wednesday after he was unable to make a scheduled bullpen session. "Theres still some tenderness and discomfort there," manager Davey Johnson said. "So were going to keep him off the mound for a few more days." Strasburg was removed after two innings in his last start, Friday against the Atlanta Braves, because he was grimacing and flexing his shoulder. He said after the game that his back had been bothering him while warming up for his previous few starts but would feel fine once the game started. The Nationals said on Sunday that Strasburg has a "slight strain" to the lat muscle. Johnson was hoping the right-hander would not miss a start, although Strasburgs next turn in the rotation was moved back two days to Saturday. After Strasburg played catch instead of throwing the bullpen session Wednesday, the Nationals put him on the DL, retroactive to Sunday. Strasburg is 3-5 with a 2.54 ERA. He was 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA last season, when the Nationals made the much-debated decision to shut him down before the playoffs because of a team-imposed innings limit in his first full season following elbow surgery. The Nationals now have two starters on the DL. Ross Detwiler has been sidelined since May 15 with a strained oblique muscle. He threw a bullpen session Wednesday and will make a rehab start in the minors before returning to the rotation. Nate Karns has made his first two major league starts in Detwilers place, and Johnson said the Nationals will promote another pitcher from Triple-A Syracuse to start in Strasburgs place on Saturday. A prime candidate is right-hander Ross Ohlendorf, who has pitched for three major league teams and is 4-5 with a 4.32 ERA at Syracuse. The Strasburg news overshadowed a cosmetic change for Johnson: The manager arrived at the dugout clean-shaven for the first time in more than two weeks. Johnson had been refusing to shave because of the Nationals hitting woes, but he broke out the razor in the wake of his teams first late-inning come-from-behind win of the season. The 3-2 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday was the first time in 2013 that Washington won when trailing after six innings. Minkah Fitzpatrick Dolphins Jersey . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey . PAUL, Minn. http://www.dolphinsrookiestore.com/Dolphins-Bob-Griese-Jersey/ . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Mark Duper Jersey . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Nat Moore Dolphins Jersey . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. With all due respect to Ronald Reagans George Gipp on his deathbed, Denzel Washingtons Herman Boone at Gettysburg or even Robert Loggias halftime talk with the Texas State Armadillos, Hollywoods greatest football speech was Al Pacinos in Any Given Sunday.You find out lifes this game of inches. So is football. Because in either game -- life or football -- the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you dont quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast, and you dont quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. Theyre in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch.On Sunday afternoon, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced the four teams that will compete for the national championship: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington. The season started with the 128 FBS squads, all hoping to make that final four. Those teams played a total of 837 games. Those contests produced more than 640,000 yards of offense. That translates to roughly 360 miles, almost precisely the distance between Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Clemsons Death Valley.Yet somehow, the entire season came down to only a handful of key plays, the outcome of each determined by merely a few yards here and, yes, Mr. Pacino, a few inches there. Yet the sum of their tiny parts shaped the most unpredictable season of the still-young playoff era.Week 1: Two inches Thats what LSU running back Leonard Fournette needed to be added to his vertical leap. With two minutes remaining, down 16-14 to Wisconsin, the Tigers offense was finally waking up. Having just crossed midfield, they handed off to the preseason Heisman favorite, who busted off a run deep into Badgers territory, but when he tried to leapfrog a defender, he caught a helmet to his right leg just below the knee. He limped off the field and never returned. It was the first of a series of nagging hurts that would dog Fournette all season. LSU lost, and head coach Les Miles was walking the plank. Meanwhile, Wisconsin had a big cross-conference win that it -- and the entire Big Ten -- could, and would, hang their hats on all season.Week 4: Ten fingers The two hands of Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins werent able to cleanly catch a fourth-down red zone shotgun snap against Washington at home in overtime. His bobble was just enough to cause a twinge of panic. That milliseconds difference in timing was just enough for the would-be tying TD pass play to break down into an overthrown dying quail pass that sailed over the head of the receiver. Washington survived 35-28 to keep its playoff hopes alive.Week 5: 1? yards In perhaps the best game of the season, Louisvilles Lamar Jackson took Clemsons best shots and repeatedly returned serve. If he does win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, this will be the game many point to ... but the Cardinals lost. With 13 seconds remaining in a six-point game, Jackson threw a strike to James Quick. It was fourth-and-12 at the Clemson 14-yard line. Quick, confused as to where the first-down marker was, stepped out of bounds at the 3. It was less than 2 yards too short. Clemsons playoff season continued, while Louisvilles season took its first step toward eventually becoming derailed.Week 7: 1 foot plus 5 feet, both to the right Back to Death Valley, South Carolina: As the game clock zeroed out to end regulation, a would-be game-winning 33-yard field goal attempt by NC State kicker Kyle Bambard squirted just wide of the right upright. The Tigers won in OT 24-17. Meanwhile, at damp Camp Randall Stadium, also in OT, Ohio States J.T. Barrett tossed a back-shoulder fade to Noah Brown, a ball that found its way past the outstretched fingers of two Wisconsin defenders and floated into the back-right corner to Brown. The Buckeyes won 30-23.Week 8: Ten fingers, two inches, OK ... pretty much all of the above Second-ranked Ohio States magic ran ouut at Penn State.dddddddddddd The Nittany Lions trailed 21-17 when a drive-stopping interception slipped through their fingers with 4:39 remaining. It turned out to be an accidental blessing. The resulting field goal attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown. Penn State won 24-21. It was the first blemish on OSUs record but also the first spark of the question, Can the Big Ten get more than one school into the playoff?Week 11: 1 yard On fourth-and-1 at the Pittsburgh 35, Clemson ran a sweep with tailback Wayne Gallman. He was grabbed around the ankles by nose tackle Jeremiah Taleni and was dropped 1 yard short of the first down. Pitt took over on downs with 52 seconds remaining and drove 34 yards on six plays to kick the winning field goal as time expired.Week 12: Two steps After a touchdown pulled them to within 17-16 with 4:41 remaining, Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio elected to go for two points in a bid to upset Ohio State, which had crawled back up to second in the rankings. Tyler OConnor saw an open receiver at the goal line, but Jamal Lyles moved one step to his right as two defenders took opposite steps toward the inbounds pass and shared an interception. The game essentially ended there, as did Michigan States chances to brighten an otherwise disappointing season.Week 13: The Game, The Spot, The Inch Hey, its Ohio State again! In the second overtime period, on fourth-and-1, head coach Urban Meyer looked over his teams shaky day on special teams and elected not to attempt a game-tying field goal. Instead, Barrett ran a keeper that carried him to the edge of the white yard line he needed to reach. Did he make it? Did he not? The officials -- with help from the replay booth -- said he did. But the ruling is still being debated on either side of the Ohio-Michigan border. Last week a nuclear physicist at Wayne State told the Detroit Free Press that math and chemistry make it incredibly difficult for anyone to get that call right, humans or video cameras. Then again, hes also a Michigan grad.Week 14: 1 foot forward, 1 arm left On Saturday night, almost simultaneously, two conference championship games were determined by about 12 inches each. In Orlando, Virginia Tech was down a TD and down to a fourth down, at the 23 with 1:11 on the clock and thinking overtime. Quarterback Jerod Evans dropped back to throw. Clemson linebacker Kendall Joseph blitzed. Tech knew it was probably coming, and thats why the Hokies had running back Travon McMillian stay home to block. But he was waiting on the right, not the left. As Joseph streaked by, McMillian threw his arm out and grabbed, but got ahold of nothing. Joseph hit Evans as he threw, the pass fell short of tight end Bucky Hodges (who appeared to be wide-open), and the playoff chaos -- at least any involving the ACC -- was avoided. Meanwhile, in the Big Ten championship, Wisconsin was in a nearly identical situation, trailing Penn State 38-31 and deep in enemy territory. Corey Clement was handed the ball on fourth-and-1 with 1:05 remaining. He was met head-on by DBs Marcus Allen and Grant Haley and stopped 1 foot short at the 24-yard line. Penn State saved its game and title. But 12 hours later, it was the Nittany Lions who came up short.Sunday afternoon I stared at my computer monitor, looking at the just-revealed final College Football Playoff rankings. Then I got out a tape measure and checked the distance on that screen between Ohio State in third and Penn State in fifth.It was exactly an inch.So, no offense to the guy from Wayne State, but when it comes to 2016, it doesnt take a doctorate in physics to realize that one of the oldest clichés in sports isnt a cliché at all. Its a game of inches is a rock-solid fact. Just ask any fan who watched any big game of this college football season.Or Al Pacino. ' ' '