Nationals eyeing June 16 return to hill for Strasburg

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who is on the disabled list because of a lat strain, threw a bullpen session Saturday afternoon and said he didn’t have any problems throwing. He will throw in a simulated game Monday in Colorado. If things go well, the club is hoping Strasburg will be ready to start June 16 vs. Cleveland.

Surprise picks help early rounds of Draft play out

Ten rounds are in the books. As baseball breaks to prepare for rounds 11-40 of the First-Year Player Draft — beginning Saturday at 1 p.m. ET — information is starting to come in about why Day 1 went down the way it did, why some teams made the decisions they did on top, what caused certain players to slide and what the scouting industry has to say how the Draft has progressed thus far.

Wainwright, Cards cruise past Reds, pad Central lead

The Cardinals opened a nine-game road trip on Friday night by cushioning their NL Central lead by another game and flexing their division superiority with a 9-2 victory over the Reds in front of 38,874 at Great American Ball Park. Now 5-2 against Cincinnati this season, St. Louis now enjoys a season-high four-game division lead.