That unfortunate moment followed a first-inning rain delay, and the next pitch resulted in a two-run basehit, all while Strasburg was dealing with a Hot Stuff situation. Tough day, weird day.

Nats lose despite Strasburg on the bump and Harper’s second HR. [WaPo]

Davey Johnson: Strasburg had Hot Stuff on his private parts. [Nats Journal]

Rob Dibble’s reaction to Strasburg’s Hot Stuff is so dumb. [Nats Enquirer]

Boz on these Nats losing ~500 games to injuries. [Thomas Boswell]

The Nats, especially their starting pitching, are cooling off. [Nats Baseball]

Bryce Harper checks out MMA, takes a picture with a girl. [Cagewriter]

If H-Rod can’t do it, who should the Nats’ closer be? [Nats Blog]

O’s beat Yanks behind another strong outing from Wei-Yin Chin. [The Sun]

O’s should go about locking up Jones and Wieters. [Peter Schmuck]

Really good stuff from Adam Jones on defensive metrics, etc. [Fangraphs]

Exploring whether or not the O’s can keep this up all season. [Grantland]

Art Monk gets into the College Football Hall of Fame. Finally. [Real Redskins]

PSA: You can now buy a pair of RGIII’s draft day socks for $15. [Bog]

Kedric Golston thinks he hit a shark in the Potomac River. [Bog]

Caps should “seriously consider” trading Ovechkin. [Stephen Whyno]

Alex Semin says he isn’t done with the Caps after all. [Puck Daddy]

Pics of Ovi, Semin and Backstrom arriving in Sweden for Worlds. [RMNB]

Ashton Pankey is transferring form Maryland, so you know. [Testudo Times]

1. John Carlson

Yes, Carlson struggled during the regular season. For the first time fans in Washington were questioning him. But the whole time he had a friend behind the bench. Carlson played for Hunter in London and Hunter is nothing if not loyal. Not that another coach would have sent Carlson to Hershey or anything, but I don’t think he ever thought his playing time was in jeopardy. Sure, he was separated from Karl Alzner for a while, but by season end Carlzner was back and his old coach was running the show. Of course, Carlson also played for Bruce Boudreau in the minors. Next season there’s the very real chance that for the first time in his NHL career Carlson won’t be playing for a coach he knows very well.

2. Dennis Wideman

The Capitals lone representative at the 2012 NHL All Star game did not have a postseason that could be described as successful. In 14 games he had zero goals and a +/- of -7. Where did that -7 rank among NHL players this postseason? 340th! Only Barret Jackman of the Blues, who was -8, did worse. In the entire league!

Hunter’s style was supposed to be all about defensive responsibility yet a guy ranked 340th in +/- averaged 20:44 minutes of ice time in the postseason. Why? Perhaps it’s Hunter’s loyalty again. Wideman also played for Hunter in London and he’s a trusted veteran, an All-Star. Hunter seems to be risk averse. Playing a guy he’s known for years that made a name for himself in the NHL seems a lot safer than rolling the dice with a rookie like Orlov. A new coach might not feel the same way. Although the fact that Wideman is an unrestricted free agent looking for a long-term deal probably makes that a moot point.

3. Marcus Johansson

Johansson played in all 14 games in the playoffs despite looking lost throughout the Rangers series. He spent most of his time on the Ovechkin line but never seemed to do anything to help create chances for Ovi. In those 14 games he scored one goal, had two assists and was -6 (349th in the league). Despite the lackluster numbers, only Backstrom, Laich and Ovi had more TOI in the playoffs for the Caps. Will the next coach think someone with three points in 14 games should center your best offensive player for an entire series?

On his way out the door on Monday, Hunter showed his optimism for MJ90’s career is still high. He passed him and said, “Keep going, Jojo. Give ‘em hell. Keep shooting. Follow your dream. Outscore Nicky next season!”

4. GMGM

George McPhee won’t be heading to the beach anytime soon and Hunter’s choice to go home will make his summer that much more difficult. GMGM already has to deal with unrestricted free agents like Semin (although that choice seems to have already been made for him), Wideman, and Knuble. Now he has to find the right coach with the right system and the right personality for this team.

5. Braden Holtby

Hunter’s system was clearly nice for a rookie goalie starting in his first Stanley Cup playoffs. Holtby played great but he didn’t face many odd-man rushes or sustained pressure with high-percentage shots. Not to imply that the system made the sensation, but it definitely didn’t hurt. Our time with Holtby represents a very small sample size, maybe he really is the goalie we’ve been looking for since Kolzig carried us to the finals in ’98, but lots of blocked shots didn’t hurt.

Dale Hunter told us he was heading home on Monday. Our former captain is now also our former coach. His time in D.C. (well, this time) was short, but he made a major impact. Here’s a look at which Caps will benefit now that Hunter’s heard London calling.

(Ed. note: Brad will be back later today with five that will suffer.)

1. Alex Ovechkin

Hunter’s system was not developed to highlight Mr. Ovechkin’s talents. Despite that fact, what Ovi did in the playoffs had his biggest detractors looking at him in a new light. Even Mike Milbury was praising his leadership and defense. But seriously, is that what we want out of the most talented offensive player on the planet?

It’s great that he’s blocking shots and leading by example, we want that effort to stay, but the Caps would be much better served by him making opponents adjust to his talent. Who knows who the new coach will be, and what sort of system he’ll employ, but I’d wager that it gives Ovi a little more freedom to create oh-fense.

2. Mike Green

Again, Hunter’s system was not a great fit. Two years ago Green was a finalist for the Norris, but not because of his defensive skills. Since then, injuries limited his time and under Hunter he struggled to score. Green is at his most dangerous on the power play but this year he didn’t get that chance.

An extended experiment using Ovi at the point and Hunter’s loyalty to Dennis Wideman kept Green off the PP’s first-unit. That finally changed late in the playoffs and quickly paid dividends. Regardless of system, you’d have to assume the new coach will at least let Green man the point while Ovi moves back to the slot for extra-man situations.

3. Mathieu Perreault

Remember him? On his way out of town on Monday Hunter mentioned that you needed speed guys in the playoffs, yet Perreault didn’t play a second in the Rangers series. He may not be a future all-star, but a new regime offers him a better opportunity of reaching his potential.

4. Dmtry Orlov

While the Caps perpetually struggled to score in the playoffs, Orlov never even got a sweater. A young, rested talent that can create opportunities never got a chance to gain valuable experience and potentially give the team some much-needed spark. Why, because in Hunter’s world you don’t win by scoring goals, you win by stopping the other team from scoring goals. And in 14 straight playoff games he decided Jeff Schultz or John Erskine was more valuable than Orlov could be.

Will a new coach use Orlov in the postseason? No one knows, but I can guarantee Orlov won’t play fewer than zero minutes the next time he’s in the postseason.

5. Mike Knuble

Knuble’s days in Washington may be over, but any chance of a return must have improved on Monday. Despite being the type of gritty player that seemed to perfectly fit his system, Hunter made Knuble a healthy scratch for much of the stretch run. He got back in the lineup during the playoffs but he couldn’t have been excited about the prospect of playing a full season for the guy that benched him. That guy’s gone, maybe Knuble stays.

Harper’s first HR featured a near-league-best trot and a curtain call. [BLS]

Nats beat San Diego to retake first despite H-Rod’s best efforts. [WaPo]

New Nats catcher Sandy Leon hurt before we knew him. [Nats Journal]

Chien-Ming Wang goes nine, is almost done rehabbing. [Nats Journal]

O’s lose opener to Yankees, are now tied with Rays for first. [The Sun]

Dylan Bundy pitches five more scoreless, is up to 25 now. [Steve Melewski]

There are some stellar O’s GIFs contained herein. [Camden Chat]

Remembering Dale Hunter, who did good, but had done enough. [RMNB]

Eight coaches who may be tapped to replace Hunter. [Caps Insider]

Alex Semin’s agent seems to think Alex Semin is leaving. [ESPN]

Alex Ovechkin alludes to jealousy in the locker room. [Caps Watch]

Ovi, Backy, Semin are playing in the World Championships. [Caps Insider]

Tomas Vokoun is leaving D.C. after a disappointing year. [Kings of Leonsis]

VCU reportedly going to the A-10, leaving Mason behind. [JMU Sports Blog]

Meet new Terps Shaquille O’Neal Cleare, Jake Layman. [Testudo Times, TT]

Maryland-Northwestern ranked 9th-best ACC/Big Ten game. [The Dagger]

Pops Mensah-Bonsu(!) is hawking Subway over in the U.K. [Bog]

Update No. 1: Hunter is returning to coach the London Knights, the OHL team he managed before coming to Washington.

Update No. 2: George McPhee on the timing for a new hire: “I don’t know whether it will be by the draft or sometime in August, like New Jersey did.”

Update No. 3: Puck Daddy weighs in, tossing out Paul Maurice and Ron Wilson as possible replacements.

Evan Longoria tweets an obnoxious, excessive message for O’s fans. [BSR]

O’s take two of three from the Rays, remain in first place. [Camden Chat]

The O’s are hitting home runs at an incredible pace. [Steve Melewski]

Henry Rodriguez blows it in Cincy as Nats fall out of first place. [WaPo]

Wilson Ramos is out with a torn ACL, which is unbelievable. [Nats Journal]

Minor league catcher Sandy Leon gets the callup as a result. [Nats Journal]

George McPhee’s reaction to Caps’ failure is a mirror. [Russian Machine]

So did the Caps’ Dale Hunter experiment work or not? [Puck Daddy]

Big questions for the Caps’ offseason. [Russian Machine, WaPo, OFB]

Versatile RB Tim Hightower is returning to the Redskins. [The Insider]

Dave McKenna on legendary Elgin vs. Wilt D.C. pickup games. [Grantland]

Approve. Elsewhere in Harper mythology, the wunderkind had a rough night at the dish, going 0-for-5 in his worst game since joining the Nats two weeks ago. It was so bad that after grounding out in the seventh he took his bat to the tunnel wall between the dugout and the clubhouse. Unfortunately for him, the bat ricocheted off the wall and onto his forehead/eyebrow area, leaving him bloodied and in need of 10 stitches. Good look, though:

It’s the new eyeblack. He hopes to play today, which is good of him, though maybe he could use a day off as his average has plummeted to .233 and he still hasn’t hit a HR through 12 games.

That’s okay, though, as the Nats don’t have anyone else to trot out there and won’t until Jayson Werth returns months from now. They’ve also won two in a row to maintain a half-game lead in the NL East. Fun season, so far.

Karl Alzner’s playoff beard ranked as a top-five playoff beard. [Puck Daddy]

Note: Here’s where Alzner’s beard is headed should the Caps win Game 7.

Braden Holtby’s fiance has a baby boy, Benjamin Hunter. [Caps Insider]

Here’s the best Photoshop imaginable of lil’ Benjamin Hunter. [RMNB]

Caps “have a very special young goaltender in Holtby.” [Russian Machine]

Matt Hendricks is having a hell of a playoff run. [Caps Insider]

Looking at the recent history of underdogs in Game 7. [Caps Insider]

Art Monk is joining a concussion lawsuit against the NFL. [The Insider]

Gambling lines for the Redskins 2012 regular season. [Hogs Haven]

This painting of RGIII has some weird stuff going on. [Burgundy Blog]

Nats snap three-game skid behind Strasburg’s 13-K game. [WaPo]

Thomas Boswell on Bryce Harper. Read this shit. [Thomas Boswell]

Wilson Ramos isn’t so good on defense this season. [Nats Journal]

MLB Network compares Bryce Harper to Mickey Mantle. [Bog]

Nats and O’s have four of the five worst hitters in baseball. [Krem's Sports]

O’s split doubleheader with Texas, hit five HR in one game. [The Sun]

(Photos taken with love from @Redskins, @dcsportsbog, @RichTandler, @Rich_Campbell and @SkyKerstein, and thanks to Brian Orakpo, Ryan Kerrigan and the Nike mannequin-type guy for modeling.)