Pirates Video

Young's two-run shot

Pirates on Strasburg's MLB debut

Nationals Video

Lannan gets Feliz at home

Lannan's strong start

Well, welcome to the rest of the Nationals' week, P.S.

Post-Strasburg. On Wednesday, John Lannan will be taking the Nationals Park mound, making him the baseball version of whomever followed Elvis Presley on stage.

The last thing Lannan was seen throwing was a shaving-cream pie in the face of Stephen Strasburg, during Tuesday night's postgame interviews.

There might be fewer people in the stands and fewer notepads in the press box, but the young lefty is the one who will try to give the Nationals their first winning "streak" since May 22-23, when they took back-to-back Interleague games from the Orioles.

In that attempt, Lannan hopes to continue the resurgent pitching that has seen his ERA steadily shrink from 6.51 to 4.79 across his past four starts.

And the first-start focus falls on the other team's guy, the Pirates' Brad Lincoln. His spotlight will burn a bit dimmer, but he is no less significant to the Pittsburgh franchise than Strasburg is to Washington.

No telling what kind of monuments are in Strasburg's future. But you must remember there already is a Lincoln Memorial in the nation's capital, so he'll be off to a good start.

The Bucs' first pick -- and the national overall fourth selection -- in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, the 25-year-old Texan right-hander sat out the 2007 season following Tommy John surgery.

His gradual recovery has blossomed into a 6-2 record this season for Triple-A Indianapolis.

The Pirates would like nothing better than to upstage the Nationals after being mere props for a Strasburg unveiling that could not have gone better had it been scripted.

Pirates: Doumit expected to miss series
Catcher Ryan Doumit sat out Tuesday's game with concussion-like symptoms, and is likely to miss the entire series, according to manager John Russell. ... Infielder Bobby Crosby also was unavailable Tuesday, dealing with a stomach virus.

Nationals: Defense backs Strasburg
Although there was little evidence of the weak defense as the Nationals were on their best behavior behind Strasburg, they continue to lead the Majors with 33 unearned runs allowed.

Worth noting
Attitude is everything? Pittsburgh's Delwyn Young, who put the only dent into Strasburg with his two-run homer in the fourth, had earlier said of the hype surrounding his debut, "I really couldn't care less, to be honest. It's just another pitcher."