the first snowboard slopestyle competition of the season

WASHINGTON -- Gavin Floyd had never heard the name of the piece of bone he broke inside his elbow. Manager Fredi Gonzalez didnt even try to pronounce it. But no matter how you say "olecranon," it spells more bad news for the Atlanta Braves pitching staff. Floyd, recently recovered from elbow ligament replacement surgery, fractured the bony tip of the forearm bone that sticks out behind the elbow when he threw a curveball to lead off the seventh inning of Thursday nights 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals. "It was fine until that last pitch," Floyd said. "I felt a pop." Its the latest setback for an injury-riddled staff that lost starters Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy and reliever Cory Gearrin to Tommy John surgery during spring training, upending a major plank in the Braves plans to repeat as NL East champions. "Its been a tough one, ever since spring training," third baseman Chris Johnson said. "But weve got to keep moving forward. Hopefully its nothing too bad and we can get him back soon." Floyd will return to Atlanta on Friday to be examined by team doctors. The injury is so rare that the Braves couldnt provide even a guess of a timetable for his return. A similar injury ended the career of Detroit Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya in 2010. "In the big picture, I think hes going to be OK," Gonzalez said. Floyd flexed his pitching arm awkwardly after the fateful pitch, which turned into a long foul ball by Jayson Werth down the left field line. After an examination by the Braves trainer on the mound, Floyd left the game for reliever Anthony Varvaro. "It was a weird spot," Floyd said. "It was a little sore before, but not in the area that I had surgery." Floyd (2-2) was making his ninth start since recovering from Tommy John surgery, but Gonzalez said the two injuries are not related. "What a shame," Gonzalez said. "The guy comes all the way back from Tommy John. ... I feel for the young man." Floyd had been working on a two-hit shutout. He threw only 64 pitches, walking one and striking out six to drop his ERA to 2.65 in his first season with Atlanta. "Thats the best Ive seen him look," Johnson said. "For those first six innings, he was dealing, he was nasty, so thats really a tough break." Floyds career record is 72-72 over 11 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Braves. "I felt like I was getting better and better, so its definitely disappointing," Floyd said. "Definitely not what I envisioned to happen. I havent had any pain since the surgery." The win moved the Braves within a half-game of the first-place Nationals atop the NL East as the division rivals opened a four-game series. Atlanta had been trending downward recently, losing eight of 12 entering the series. Johnson drove in all three of the Braves runs, two on a bases-loaded single in the fourth and another on a line drive that smacked reliever Jerry Blevins left knee in the eighth. Blevins was examined by the Nationals trainer but remained in the game to face one more batter. Jordan Zimmermann (5-4), coming off consecutive complete games, had his second straight hard-luck start for the Nationals. He lost 1-0 to Lance Lynn and the St. Louis Cardinals last Friday, and this time he allowed only two runs and seven hits through seven innings. Zimmermann has also had Tommy John surgery and naturally empathized with Floyd. "You never want another pitcher to get injured. I dont know what really happened," Zimmermann said. "Obviously, it was bad enough for him to come out of the game. Hopefully, hell be all right." NOTES: Evan Gattis extended his hitting streak to 18 games -- the longest active streak in the majors and best ever by a Braves catcher. ... Craig Kimbrel picked up his 21st save for the Braves, who have won 23 of 30 against the Nationals. ... Nationals OF Bryce Harper took on-field batting practice before the game for the first time since undergoing thumb surgery last month. Hes expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment next week before re-joining the team in mid-July. . Nationals Manager Matt Williams said C Wilson Ramos (strained right hamstring) should be ready to re-join the team when eligible to come off of the DL June 26. Ramos will begin a rehab assignment over the weekend or the beginning of next week. . Braves OF Justin Upton was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game with an inner ear ailment causing dizziness, but he appeared as pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and grounded out. . The Braves placed RHP Pedro Beato on the DL with a sore right elbow. He was called up to the Braves earlier this week and pitched in relief both Tuesday and Wednesday. The Braves promoted RHP Juan Jaime from Triple-A Gwinnett, his first call-up to the majors. Ralph Kiner Jersey . LeBron James leads the Miami Heat in a quest for three consecutive championship titles, while Tim Duncan looks to add his fifth ring with the San Antonio Spurs when the series tips off with Game 1: Miami @ San Antonio on Thursday, June 5 at 9 p. Bob Miller Jersey . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate). https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/922e-dave-giusti-jersey-pirates.html . Beckham says "nothing has been confirmed yet, but its something I am very excited about." He adds that "Miami is something that really excites me because there is a great energy down there. Elias Diaz Jersey . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank. Bill Madlock Jersey . The Giants chances of winning the division were dealt a serious blow by the three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Padres. The Giants open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. San Francisco is still in good shape to clinch a wild-card berth, although it dropped into a tie with Pittsburgh in the race for the top spot. BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. -- If the first snowboard slopestyle competition of the season is any indication, Canada may have a lot to cheer for when the event makes its Olympic debut in Sochi in February. Reginas Mark McMorris took gold at the Dew Tour on Sunday, finishing the 17-man field with a 97.80 points, while fellow Canadian Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que., finished third with 89.00. Montreals Sebastien Toutant placed fourth with 87.60. Sven Thorgren of Sweden prevented Canada from sweeping the podium, taking silver with 91.00 points. "Canada is just destroying it right now," McMorris said. "The slopes team is really strong and I think were going to have a really good showing in Sochi." After a fall in qualifying, McMorris collected 95.00 points in his first run of the final, which featured his signature straight double backflip, and a backside 1080 double cork. He capped his second run with a 1440 triple cork. "I was going at the last jump not sure what I wanted to do exactly, a double (cork) or a triple (cork), but if Im not at the head of the pack going into my second run, Im definitely going to have to go for it," said the 20-year-old McMorris. "I had nothing to lose. I told myself everything was going perfect and I had to do a triple." For Parrot, Sundays performance marked his first career medal in three years on the Dew Tour circuit. "Its great to finally geet on the podium," Parrot said.dddddddddddd "I think Im feeling more and more comfortable with my manoeuvres and executing them at high speed." Like McMorris, Parrot was happy to see Canada excel at the seasons opening event. "We got three Canadians in the top 4 so I think thats pretty good," the 19-year-old said. "We had the possibility to get a sweep of the podium and I think it would be possible in the next events and that would be amazing." American snowboarding star Shaun White was forced to drop out of Sundays event after injuring his ankle on a fall in the halfpipe finals on Saturday. McMorris said he was disappointed to hear that his stiffest competition had to withdraw. "It was too bad he couldnt compete today," McMorris said. "But his ankle is hurt and nobody likes to be hurt." The Canadian slope team travels to Copper Mountain in Copper, Colo., next weekend for the first of four Grand Prix events ahead of the Winter Games. The following three competitions will be held in Northstar, Calif., and a double stop at Mammoth, Calif. Toutant said Sundays event was a good measuring stick to begin the season. "It was our first competition this season and it was a great opportunity to see where everyone is at," he said. "Im looking forward to now preparing for the World Cups and hopefully the Olympics in the New Year." ' ' '