Starting Five: Nationals State of Emergency in L.A.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the unthinkable happened to the Dodgers in Thursday.

Having Manny Ramirez suspended? No, that's not unthinkable.

Losing at home to the Nationals? Unthinkable.

The Dodgers went into the game 13-0 at home this year and 21-8 overall, the best record in the majors. The Nationals had the worst record in baseball, 7-18, and had lost their past 10 games at Dodger Stadium.

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And then L.A. took a six-run lead into sixth inning. And blew it.

Austin Kearns' two-run double in the eighth tied the game, and two batters later Nick Johnson added another two-run double. It was the biggest road comeback in Nationals history (which dates only to 2005).

"I think we would have chosen a different way to lose than that way," said Dodgers starter Randy Wolf. "But we'll have to start a new streak tomorrow. April and May records are pretty meaningless. It's how you end the season."

From the Trainer's Room ...
Florida's low payroll leaves the Marlins with little depth, so Thursday's shoulder injury to starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez could be costly.

Teammate Alfredo Amezaga, one of Sanchez's close friends, was a bit optimistic when Sanchez told him the pain is in the bone on the top of the shoulder. Amezaga is hoping it could be a dislocation rather than a tear.

... Sanchez, 25, underwent surgery on the same shoulder in June 2007 to repair a torn labrum. He returned to a major league mound in July 2008.

The Marlins may look to someone other than Graham Taylor, who took over a rotation spot while Andrew Miller was out and was just sent back down Wednesday.

Numbers Game ...
After Andy Pettitte allowed four homers in a game for the first time in his career, long-time Yankees teammate Mariano Rivera gave up two homers in a game for the first time since 1998 (second time ever as a reliever). The shots by Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford were the first-ever back-to-back homers off Rivera. Crawford's snapped his homerless streak of 258 at-bats.

In Their Own Words ...
"Probably. Then I'm going to retire." – White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle, who was perfect for 6 1/3 innings against the Tigers as he improved to 5-0, when asked if he will lose at all this season.

Advance Scouting ...
The Rays and Red Sox open their third series of the season (7:10 PM ET) at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay is 5-2 this year against Boston; the Sox are 16-6 against everyone else. Rays starter James Shields is 0-4 with a 9.56 ERA in four career starts at Fenway.