s, he remembers more good than bad.Its unclear if Rodriguezs career will actually end Friday. The 41-year-old designated hitter remained noncommittal when asked if he was definitely retiring as a play

WASHINGTON -- Calm and collected on the outside, Lucas Giolito was so anxious about making his major league debut that he kept going into manager Dusty Bakers office to ask when the game would start.Rain delayed it almost an hour and then cut Giolitos outing short, but when he was on the mound he was dominant as the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 5-0 on Tuesday night. Baseballs top pitching prospect allowed just one hit, struck out one and walked two in four scoreless innings and made the most of his start despite the weather.I never saw rain in the forecast at all, Giolito said. I thought it would be like 72 degrees, sunny, all that stuff. Thats how I dreamt it. But Ill take what I can get. An MLB debut is an MLB debut and Im glad I pitched well.The 6-foot-6 Giolito mixed his curveball and improving changeup in with his overpowering fastball to silence the Mets after a leadoff single by Curtis Granderson. Giolito was in control of his emotions and his pitches all night.He pounded the strike zone very well, said outfielder Bryce Harper, who hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning. His fastball was good, his curveball was good. I think he kept them off-balance pretty well and definitely a huge bummer that we went into that rain delay.An 85-minute rain delay cost Giolito the chance to pick up his first major league victory, as the win went to reliever Oliver Perez (2-1) instead. But Giolito left an impression with his first Nationals start, taking to heart the advice his veteran manager gave him.Dusty told me: You can be anxious. You can be nervous. Just dont be scared. You belong here. Thats just what I tried to prove, the 21-year-old said. After the first pitch, I couldve been pitching Double-A, I couldve been pitching in front of zero people. It wouldnt have mattered. I was just locked in.Mets right-hander Matt Harvey (4-10) wasnt quite as locked in but was very good in allowing one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings. An RBI triple by Danny Espinosa was the only crack Washington needed against Harvey, who was a hard-luck loser.It would have been great for him to go a few more innings because tonight was some of the best stuff hes had all year, manager Terry Collins said. Tonight he had things going.Harpers two-run shot off lefty Jerry Blevins, his team-leading 16th of the season, and Wilson Ramos two-run double in the seventh gave the Nationals bullpen some cushion. On the other side, New Yorks bullpen became even more depleted the day before Logan Verrett has to make a spot start.TRAINERS ROOMMets: Granderson was removed from the game after the second rain delay because of a calf injury that tightened up on him, Collins said.. ... RHP Hansel Robles was struck in the right calf with a line drive in the seventh inning and walked off under his own power. ... LHP Steven Matz has a bone spur in his elbow and had his start pushed back from Wednesday to Thursday. ... RHP Noah Syndergaard has a small bone spur in his elbow but isnt expected to miss any time. ... 1B Lucas Duda is two weeks away from resuming baseball activities.Nationals: An MRI confirmed RHP Stephen Strasburg has an upper back strain. Strasburg threw a bullpen session Tuesday afternoon.UP NEXTMets: RHP Verrett (3-4, 4.14 ERA) makes a spot start for Matz as the rest of the rotation gets pushed back. The Mets will have one fewer arm available in the bullpen as a result.Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer (8-5, 3.52 ERA) makes his 17th start of the season trying to bounce back from allowing four earned runs in a loss to Milwaukee on Saturday. Lebron James Shoes In Order . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Cheap Air Max 270 China . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-90-shoes.html . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Paul George Shoes Wholesale . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Nike Vapormax Wholesale . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. BOSTON -- Alex Rodriguezs memories of Fenway Park are as textured as the complicated story of his 22-year career.This week, A-Rod will wear a Yankees uniform in Boston as a player for the final time. He will start in the finale of New Yorks three-game series on Thursday night before playing his final game with the team at home the next night.Manager Joe Girardi announced the plans for A-Rod in Boston prior to Tuesday nights series opener. After Fridays game against the Rays, Rodriguez will be released and shift into a role as a special adviser.Girardi said Sunday he would get Rodriguez as many innings as possible this week, but said Tuesday he got caught up in the emotions of Sundays announcement and instead will prioritize the Yankees pursuit of a playoff spot.Rodriguez said he is disappointed but excited to start at least one more time at Fenway Park, where he made his major league debut in 1994.Its a great chance to give me one big, loud boo on the way out and send me to Miami, Rodriguez said. The one thing is, I love Boston. Its a great city. I love Fenway Park. I started here. My mother and brother and sister were here. I want my girls to go to college somewhere in Boston -- Im not going to say where. But somewhere in Boston. It should be fun.The three-time AL MVP and 14-time All-Star was hitting .204 this season with nine home runs and 29 RBI in 216 at-bats. The struggles have relegated him to a diminished role. He hasnt played since Aug. 2 and has appeared in just 62 games this season.This has been really difficultt, because I think we all expected him to have a good year, Girardi said.dddddddddddd Me and Alex have been through a lot -- I mean a lot -- over the years that Ive been here. Hopefully when we all get away from this, he remembers more good than bad.Its unclear if Rodriguezs career will actually end Friday. The 41-year-old designated hitter remained noncommittal when asked if he was definitely retiring as a player after Fridays game.Im going to really enjoy the last three or four days, he said.Rodriguez nearly came to Boston from Texas before the 2004 season, but the players union rejected the deal because it hinged on Rodriguez taking a $40 million pay cut. He then was traded to New York.We had the deal worked out. We had a lot of people involved and at the very end -- in the ninth inning with two outs -- it was vetoed, Rodriguez said. That was an emotional roller coaster. So often you think about what could have been.He said he has no regrets about how things eventually worked out.I thought it was an exciting potential, he said. But things turned out incredible for the Red Sox. It turned out well for us. We have four championships between us. ... But overall, I thought the game grew incredibly. I thought the game mightve been at its height when you think about those playoffs in 04, 05, 06. It was a good time for baseball.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower ' ' '