The semi-finals get underway in Euro 2012 this afternoon when Spain and Portugal square off in the Battle for Iberia (sorry, Andorra).

The Spanish, as you may be aware, won the World Cup in 2010 and Euro 2008. They haven’t lost a knockout game in a major tournament since a 3-1 loss to France in the 2006 World Cup. The Portuguese are playing arguably their best soccer since the 2004 European Cup Championship (they lost the final to Greece). The two played most recently in November 2010 in Lisbon. On that day, Portugal handed Spain their worst loss in over 45 years. That was a friendly. This will be anything but.

–Behind what some are calling a “virtuoso performance” by Ryan Vogelsong, the San Francisco Giants moved to within a game of the Dodgers last night in the NL West. The loss was LA’s 8^th in its last 10 games and it appears the team is finally coming back to Earth after exceeding expectations through the first 2 ½ months of the season. LA will have a good chance to win today in the series finale, as the Giants will send Tim Lincecum to the mound. Imagine reading that sentence a year ago…

-Perhaps it’s not the “Tumble Heard Round The World” but it’s close. Reds closer Aroldis Chapman has struggled mightily in his role since moving from whatever it was that his role was before being moved to closer. Last night, though, Chapman pitched well to pick up the save. Following a strikeout of Brewers human Martin Maldonado, Chapman celebrated by doing two tumbles towards home plate. After the game, Reds stars Joey Votto and Jay Bruce took Chapman aside to explain to him that he is an idiot and they’d prefer not to get hit by an angry Brewers pitcher in today’s game. So maybe all will be right with the world.

-The hashtag #umpshow has caught on this season on social networking site Twitter. #umpshow is used to describe the situation of an umpire taking over a game and becoming the story. Last night’s Yankees/Indians game became an #umpshow. Yankees outfielder Dewayne Wise lept into the stands to make a catch of a foul ball. That ball bounced off of his glove, rolled, and landed about 10 feet to Wise’s left. In fact, it was picked up by a fan in the stands, who held the ball in the air. Not to fear though, third-base umpire Mike DiMuro didn’t need to see any of that. He ruled that Wise made the catch without asking to see the ball. #umpshow

-Rangers starter Yu Darvish shook off a slow start to last night’s game against the Detroit Tigers to pitch 7 strong innings. Darvish struck out 10 Tigers. The Rangers offense was powered by Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton, who each hit home runs. Hamilton’s was his 24^th of the season.

-The Boston Red Sox are 2 games out of a Wild Card slot. Just store that one in your memory bank.

A day after an incredibly frustrating offensive performance, the Nationals went out and broke a number of franchise hitting records, because that makes sense.

The Nats beat the Rockies 12-5. They added 21 hits. Every starter had at least one hit. Gio Gonzalez had an RBI. And hitting coach Rick Eckstein didn’t get fired.

The Nationals now sport the best record in the National League, which is kind of remarkable for a team that is 4-6 in their last 10 games.

Game 3 of this 4 game series with the Rockies will be played tonight. Jordan Zimmermann will take the hill for Washington. Colorado called up AA prospect Edwar Cabrera to make this start. Game time is 8:40 p.m. Cabrera might be back in AA by 9:30.

Spain v. Portugal (2:45/ESPN)

Baseball game of the day: Angels @ Orioles. Jered Weaver faces Jason Hammel. Weaver is 7-1 with a 2.40 ERA. Hammel is 8-2 with a 2.61 ERA. Game time is 7:05.

-It’s not often that you see two complete games pitched in the same matchup. It’s really uncommon for that to happen when the final score is 8-0. But it happened last night in Kansas City when the Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa was coming off of a doubleheader on Sunday and rather than overwork their bullpen, manager Joe Maddon decided to put Alex Cobb out there as a sacrificial lamb. Cobb surrendered 8 runs on 13 hits in his complete game. Afterward, he was called “heroic” by Maddon. Memo to Joe Maddon: might want to tone down the hyperbole.

-Barry Zito got himself back on track last night and the Giants offense exploded for 8 runs, as they pulled to within 2 games of the Dodgers in the NL West. Pablo Sandoval led the way for the Giants with 3 hits and 2 runs scored.

-Day 1 of life without Youk ended poorly for the Boston Red Sox last night as they fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 9-6. The Blue Jays, though, suffered a loss that they could ill afford when starter Henderson Alvarez left the game with a back injury. He joins Brandon Morrow and Kyle Drabek on the list of Blue Jays starters with injuries. But that’s okay because they signed Jamie Moyer yesterday.

-The New York Yankees remained the hottest team in baseball, beating the Indians 7-1 thanks to 7 strong innings from Hiroki Kuroda and a Robinson Cano homer.

-Baseball’s most inconsistent pitcher, Mat Latos, found himself on the upswing last night. And then some. Latos pitched a complete game with 13 Ks against the Brewers. Expect a line like this next time he goes out: 2.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB. Ah the majesty of Mat Latos!

Last night’s game may have been the most frustrating of the season. At least, the new “most frustrating game of the season.” Stephen Strasburg was as good as he’s been until he surrendered a triple to Dexter Fowler to lead off the 6^th and followed that by throwing an errant 95 MPH fastball at Marco Scutaro’s head. Scutaro left the game and Strasburg appeared to be very shaken by the errant pitch. And it showed. Carlos Gonzalez scored Fowler and then Todd Helton hit a sac fly to give the Rockies a lead they wouldn’t surrender. Colorado won 4-2.

The Nats will have the chance tonight to make right what they made wrong last night. Gio Gonzalez will oppose Christian Friedrich. Game time is 8:40 on one of the MASN networks.

Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants (10:15). Clayton Kershaw will face Ryan Vogelsong in a game the Dodgers really need to have to try to slow down the momentum that the Giants have right now. 

The Miami Heat remain NBA Champions. This is a fluid situation. We’ll do our best to keep you updated.

Well, the semifinals are set for Euro 2012. Germany continued to flash its superiority in the face of the Greeks, this time on a soccer pitch. Saturday saw Spain surgically and methodically destroy the French. And yesterday, England and Italy set soccer’s US popularity back 20 years, by playing to a 0-0 draw, with Italy prevailing 4-2 on penalty kicks.

The semifinals will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week (all times are 2:45 on ESPN)

Wednesday: Portugal v. Spain

Thursday: Germany v. Italy

The final will be played on Sunday.

-The R.A. Dickey train made an abrupt stop last night in Queens. Mechanics are still trying to find the problem with the locomotive, though some pinstripes were found in the engine block.

-Former Nationals prospect Derek Norris (part of the package Washington sent to Oakland for Gio Gonzalez) hit his first career HR yesterday and made it a walk-off as the A’s salvaged a game in their1 weekend series with the Giants.

-The Arizona Diamondbacks will promote their top prospect, Trevor Bauer, on Thursday to make his debut against the Braves.

-Kevin Youkilis was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox yesterday for pitching prospect Zach Stewart and human being Brent Lillibridge. The White Sox head to Fenway Park in mid-July.

-Biggest Series This Week: Dodgers @ Giants. San Francisco enters this 3-game set just 3 games behind the Dodgers, who have cooled off a bit while the Giants have been playing their best baseball.

The Nationals are, without a doubt, going through their worst stretch of 2012. They mustered just 5 runs in their 3-game series with the Orioles over the weekend, managing to win just Saturday’s game.

While this is happening, Ryan Zimmerman is going through perhaps his worst stretch of his career. He ranks near the bottom of all qualifying hitters in OPS+ (Don’t worry about not knowing what that is. Just know that you don’t want to rank near the bottom of it). Much of the blame can likely be placed on a shoulder that has been ailing Zimmerman for much of the season. He received a cortisone shot yesterday and plans to continue without a DL stint. But it’s clearly affecting his ability to hit.

The Nationals will begin a 4-game set in Denver today against maybe baseball’s worst team, the Colorado Rockies. Because it’s a 4-game series, the Nats will get to see all of Colorado’s starting pitchers, as they’re going with a 4-man, 75 pitch-per-start rotation, that so far has been a wild success (it’s good to be 3-14 in your last 17 games, right?).

Tonight, Stephen Strasburg (9-1, 2.46 ERA) will oppose Jeff Francis (0-1, 8.56 ERA). Game time is 8:40 on MASN.

(From here on out, most of these will be the best potential matchup in baseball. Sometimes it’ll tie into the “Biggest Series of the Week,” other times it will be about pitching matchups. And some days, like today, I’ll just be grasping at straws.)

Toronto @ Boston (7:05). Henderson Alvarez and Felix Doubront will take the hill, which is about as sexy as a spray tan. Regardless, this will be the Boston Red Sox’s first game without Kevin Youkilis. It’ll be (a little) interesting to see how the team responds. Or some sports writer narrative. Again, I’m just grasping at straws here. It’s not a particularly exciting night for baseball matchups. Just watch the Nats/Rockies game like a good human being. Or, I don’t know, volunteer your time for a cause you support.

Last night, perhaps to the chagrin of many, the Miami Heat won the 2011-12 NBA Championship.

There exists for many a desire to see the best fail. As a young Bulletin, I rooted against Michael Jordan. Today, as an old, bitter, tired Bulletin, I regret that choice. Despite my allegiances to a certain team in green and white, I should have rooted for MJ. I should have truly appreciated his dominance.

In 2008-09, the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship with a roster sewn together from excellent pieces of fabric that had yet to win a Championship. They were celebrated. By me. By you. By everyone (except Lakers fans).

In the summer of 2010, LeBron James decided to leave Cleveland, Ohio to join forces with a friend and fellow elite basketball player, in the hopes of winning an NBA Title. The world, myself included, reacted poorly to this.

Much of that blame fell on LeBron and ESPN for turning his free agent decision into “The Decision.” But some of that blame also belongs on us.  We were cruel to LeBron. We made LeBron James out to be evil. LeBron James, who by all accounts is a great, selfless teammate. All of a sudden, we were on Team Kobe. “Kobe is the best player in the NBA.” “Kobe is a winner.” “LeBron will never be Kobe. Etc. Etc.”

(It’s worth noting, Kobe Bryant made a trip to Colorado in 2003. Read about that in case you’ve forgotten.)

We were overcome with joy last year when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. We chastised LeBron for not winning the title on his own. What, was he not a good enough basketball player to carry a terrible team (and the Miami Heat were TERRIBLE, outside of the Big 2 ½)? In the year after “The Decision” LeBron reacted poorly to our poor reaction. He played up the villain role. It was a role not suited for a man with a great smile, a receding hairline, a sense of humor, and unparalleled skills on the basketball court.

He entered the 2011-12 season wanting to shed the villain tag. He didn’t pout. He didn’t talk about “me.” He played, perhaps, the best basketball of his career. And unlike what we had seen previously, he saved the best for last.

LeBron James’ 2012 NBA Finals performance was remarkable, capped off by a triple-double last night. The numbers aren’t important. What we saw was a player, after 9 seasons, reaching his full potential. For some, that would be too little, too late. Or just not enough. But consider the potential of 18 year old LeBron. It was near limitless. He was going to be a little Michael Jordan (scoring), some Scottie Pippen (defense…more so the ability to guard any position on the floor), Magic Johnson (passing), and (the most apt comparison) Oscar Robertson (overall impact in all areas).

The LeBron of the 2012 NBA Finals was that historic amalgamation of greatness. He scored like MJ, defended like Scottie, passed like Magic, and impacted every area of the game like the Big O.

You won’t find a bigger Kevin Durant fan outside of Oklahoma than the Bulletin. I was moved by how emotional he was at the conclusion of last night’s game. But I know that Durant will win NBA titles. He’s 23 with a lot of room to improve, remarkable as that may seem.

LeBron James has reached his pinnacle. He’s young enough that he could keep playing at this level for a handful of years before he returns to earth. Earth, of course, for him, being other-worldly for most.

Now is the time to celebrate LeBron James. Now is the time to put aside our desire to see the best fail. It’s not a particularly noble cause. LeBron made himself better, on the court and off. Perhaps it’s time that we do the same.

The quarterfinals of Euro 2012 begin today, as Portugal faces Czech Republic (2:45/ESPN)

Stephen Strasburg stopped the bleeding and, perhaps, the feud between the Nats and Rays stopped as well, as the Nationals snapped their 4-game losing streak, beating Tampa Bay 3-2.

Strasburg pitched 7 innings and struck out 10, while surrendering just 2 runs. After a rocky first inning, Rays starter Chris Archer settled down and at one point, threw 5 consecutive hitless innings.

The teams will play the rubber game of the series tonight. Temperatures will be around 100 degrees at first pitch (7:05/MASN) when Gio Gonzalez opposes Matt Moore.

The Miami Heat will look to capture their second NBA title tonight. Game 5 starts at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN

You can hope beyond hope, but the Miami Heat are going to win the NBA Championship.

Despite 43 points (on an efficient 32 shots…) from Russell Westbrook, the Oklahoma City Thunder could not overcome a near triple-double from LeBron James last night. The 104-98 loss puts OKC in a must-win situation for the remainder of the series.

LeBron James missed much of the 4^th quarter due to leg soreness (I refuse to open the door for silly jokes by calling them “cramps). Regardless, James turned in another statement-type performance, putting up a 26/9/12 line. He also had 2 steals, despite being a bad defender.

Game 5 is tomorrow night in Miami. Expect the expected.

So, um, things didn’t work out so well for Ukraine yesterday…

Here are your quarterfinal matchups. All matches begin at 2:30 p.m.

Thursday: Portugal v. Czech Republic

Friday: Greece v. Germany

Saturday: Spain v. France

Sunday: England v. Italy

The Nationals lost their 4^th straight game last night. No one is talking about that.

In the bottom of the 8^th, Rays manager Joe Maddon went to his bullpen and former Nat Joel Peralta.  Before Peralta could throw his first pitch, Nats manager Davey Johnson approached home plate umpire Tim Timmons and asked for him to check Peralta. Timmons confiscated the pitcher’s glove and upon a cursory examination, discovered pine tar inside of his glove. Peralta was ejected. Joe Maddon was not so happy.

Maddon had Nats reliever Ryan Matteus checked (he was clean), and the Rays won the game 5-4. After the game, Maddon implied that Johnson was a part of the female anatomy, located somewhere below the waist yet above the knee.

The two teams will play a very friendly Game 2 tonight. Stephen Strasburg will look to stop the bleeding (and perhaps start some). He’ll be opposed by Rays prospect Chris Archer, who will be making his big league debut. 7:05/MASN2

So, there’s no European soccer today. There isn’t an NBA game. And the Bulletin has people coming over for dinner tonight. So why don’t we all just take the night off? Or we could sneak into our bedroom to repeatedly check the score of the Nats game. You know, whatever you feel like doing.

Robert Allen Dickey began pitching in the Major Leagues in 2001 with the Texas Rangers. He had been drafted in the first round of the 1996 draft by the team out of the University of Tennessee. During his 5 years as a spot starter/long reliever for the Rangers, Dickey was terrible. Terrible would be an understatement. Over 5 years, his WAR was (-0.3).  For those unaware of WAR, that means that his performances took away .3 wins from the Texas Rangers.

Dickey stopped over in Minnesota and Seattle and was never a solid contributor.  His WHIP of 1.60 during those two stops was clearly indicative of that.

Few expected anything, or even noticed, when Dickey signed with the New York Mets in 2010. He was a knuckleballer with a terrible career record. He had never finished a season with an ERA under 4.60. His K/BB ratio fell in the pedestrian 1.25 range. He was, at best, a replacement level player.

That 2010 season was a bit of a revelation for Dickey, though. He began to control his knuckleball (if that’s even possible) better than he had previously. His statistics improved drastically. A WHIP of 1.19. An ERA below 3.00. Dickey had a breakout season.

If 2010 was a breakout season for Dickey, I’m not sure what to call 2012, other than the best. Dickey has been, unquestionably, the best starting pitcher in baseball in 2012. To say that seasons like this don’t happen normally would be an understatement.  Dickey is a 37 year old journeyman knuckleball pitcher. He’ll earn $4.25 million for his services; not chump change, but nowhere near the number that a pitcher of his statistical caliber should earn.

Last night, Dickey threw his second consecutive complete game, 1 hitter. He struck out 13 Baltimore Orioles. He leads the National League in Wins, ERA, WHIP, and Strikeouts.

The knuckleball is but a fleeting, fluttering thing. No pitcher has been able to control the knuckler like Dickey has in 2012. He’s on a collision course with the Cy Young award and an All-Star Game start, 6 years after it appeared like he was a major draft bust.

Dickey’s next start will come on Sunday night in front of a national TV audience against the red hot New York Yankees. What Dickey is doing right now is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for a pitcher with his repertoire. Make a point to tune in.

Thanks to a late goal by Jesus Nava, Spain advanced to the Quarterfinals of the European Championship as the winner of Group C. That, combined with a 2-0 Italy win over Ireland, meant happy times for the Italians, as they advanced as well to the quarterfinals. Both teams will watch Group D action today to see who their opponents will be.

The Nationals did not lose to the New York Yankees yesterday. So there’s that…

The Nats were off yesterday. They begin a three-game series tonight with the Tampa Bay Rays in D.C.  Chien-Ming Wang will oppose David Price. In the world of sport, that is referred to as a “mismatch.”  Game time is 7:05 on one of the MASN networks.

NBA:

Oklahoma City @ Miami (MIA leads 2-1): 9:00 p.m./ABC

Euro (2:45/ESPN and ESPN2):

England v. Ukraine (England advances with a win or draw. Ukraine advances only with a win.)

France v. Sweden (France advances with a  win or draw. Sweden advances only if the other three teams forfeit their previous games.)

America may be rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the NBA Championship, but until Kevin Durant becomes a better defensive player, the Miami Heat are going to win the NBA Title.

Last night, in Game 3, the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead over the Thunder, winning a back-and-forth game 91-85.

Miami was led, nay, continues to be led, by LeBron James who is finally proving his worth and his hold on the title of “Best Basketball Player In The World.” LeBron dropped in 29 and 14, for another double-double.

The Thunder were put into a tough spot due to Kevin Durant’s foul trouble. The Thunder shooting star could not defend LeBron James if he was weighted down with an anchor. And it showed. James consistently took the ball at Durant, who at times was forced to back off of James.

Games 4 and 5 will be played in Miami. That means that the Heat may not have to board a plane again during this NBA season. And unless the Thunder do something drastically different, that looks like it will be the case.

4 teams have advanced into the Euro 2012 quarterfinals.

From Group A, the Czech Republic and Greece are the surprise representatives (certainly more so for the Greeks). Greece was able to shock Russia and eliminate them from the tournament on Satuday.

In Group B, tournament favorites the Netherlands managed to win 0 games for the first time ever in a major tournament, following a 2-1 loss to Portugal. The Germans, meanwhile, continued their dominance, beating Denmark 2-1.

Germany will play Greece in the Economy Bowl on Thursday, while the Czechs will draw a suddenly hot Portugal squad.

The Bulletin cannot hide from the results of this weekend’s series with the New York Yankees. So let’s put the series to bed:

The Yankees came into DC, brought a lot of fans, and whopped on the Nationals. The offense was relentless and the pitching was very good. There are few holes in the Yankees lineup and they showed that. They’re playing like the best team in baseball right now. The Nats ran into a buzzsaw and were not ready for that impact. The hitters need to be more patient. The pitchers need to have more faith in their stuff. Pitch counts were the key in this series. The Nats starters need to find a way to pitch deeper into games, while the hitters need to stretch out the opposing starter.

A much needed off-day today for the Nationals (at home) to rest and maybe clear their heads. Which is good, because on Tuesday, they’ll face the best pitcher they’ve seen all season.

It’s all Euro 2012 today. Both matches at 2:45 on ESPN and ESPN2.

Spain v. Croatia (Spain advances with a win. Croatia advances with a win. A draw (with an Italian victory) would lead to tiebreakers. A draw (with an Italian defeat) would advance both teams.)

Italy v. Ireland (Italy advances with a win and a non-draw in the Spain v. Croatia match. Ireland has already been eliminated.)

Last night, the Miami Heat did what no other team has done in these NBA playoffs: they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in OKC.  And, again, they did so due in large part to LeBron James.

James led the way for the Heat with 32/8/5, thanks primarily to his ability to knock down his free throws (12-12).

The Heat opened up a big first quarter lead that the Thunder ultimately could not overcome, falling 100-96.

Much of the blame, so to speak, has fallen on Thunder guard Russell Westbrook and for good reason. The Thunder “point guard” was 10-26 from the field. Those are not exactly ideal numbers for a point guard.

The Thunder and Heat will play Game 3 in Miami on Sunday night.

The Spanish national team showed yesterday why they’re the Spanish national team, beating Ireland 4-0 in a match they could have won 10-0. Spain abandoned their “no strikers” approach from their weekend draw with the Italians and were rewarded with 2 goals from Fernando “Major Disappointment” Torres.

Elsewhere in Group C, Croatia and Italy drew 1-1.

This weekend marks a major point in the history of the Washington Nationals franchise. On the schedule, it’s just 3 games. It’s also 3 games in June. However, the Nationals are welcoming the New York Yankees into the Park for a weekend set, with two games on national TV. The Yankees are in first place in the AL East. The Nats are in first place in the NL East and coming off of a 6-0 road trip. Bryce Harper, the best teenager since Alex Rodriguez, will play on the same field as Alex Rodriguez. The national media will get a high profile look at Gio Gonzalez. It’s a landmark moment for the Nationals. Every day seems to bring a new slew of national profiles of the team. Last week, thisran in the Boston Globe. And if I read Canadian journalism, I’d check out what they were saying. Point is, we could be looking at a glowing New York Times piece about the Nats on Monday morning. And with it, perhaps, a new dawn in baseball.

Pitching matchups:

Friday: Phillip Hughes v. Gio Gonzalez (7:05/MLB Network)

Saturday: Andy Pettitte v. Jordan Zimmermann (1:05/Local Coverage)

Sunday: Ivan Nova v. Edwin Jackson (1:35/TBS)

NBA: Thunder @ Heat (Tied 1-1)/Sunday at 9:00 p.m.

Euro 2012:

Friday: England v. Sweden (2:45/ESPN2)

Saturday: Czech Republic v. Poland (2:45/ESPN)

Sunday: Netherlands v. Portugal (2:45/ESPN)

Enjoy your weekend!