Nationals Place Right-Hander on 15-Day Injured List with Shoulder Strain

Washington Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday with a right shoulder strain, one day after he threw five hitless innings in a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Irvin and Nationals manager Drew Butera said the diagnosis of a strain was good news after Irvin left Saturday’s game with soreness in the shoulder.

” “Yeah, definitely positive,” Irvin said Sunday of learning an MRI revealed nothing more serious than a strain.

“Just thinking positive about it all together, you know. I think it was the best news that we could have heard.

The Nationals recalled left-hander PJ Poulin from Triple-A Rochester.

Poulin will pitch in relief and the manager said he has not decided who will fill in for Irvin in the rotation. Irvin was impressive in his first win in almost two months before feeling the discomfort in his shoulder. Irvin (2-4) said he felt tightness in the shoulder in the fifth inning and felt more soreness after throwing one warmup pitch before the sixth.

“I think just with the MRI results, it looks like this is something that we caught probably as quickly as we could have,” the manager said. “So I’m glad he did say something. He didn’t want to come out of the game, obviously, with a no-hitter going.

” Irvin combined with two relievers on a one-hitter in the win. Poulin is 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA in 23 games, including five starts. He was optioned to Rochester on Wednesday when reliever Clayton Beeter returned from the IL.

“It’s great having P. Another lefty out of the bullpen that was valuable for us before we had to make the tough decision to send him to Triple A.