Major League Baseball announced Monday severe suspensions for 12 players connected to a Miami anti-aging clinic, but Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez is not among the names.

Major League Baseball will attempt to suspend 20 players connected to a now-shuttered Miami clinic, according to an ESPN report last night, but the Washington Nationals pitcher is reportedly safe.

Nats pitcher Gio Gonzalez yesterday compared pitching on a cold night to making love with his hand. Go ahead, snicker away.

Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said the team will have no comment on the report until Major League Baseball can investigate.

The Washington Nationals’ ace denies that he is among several high-profile Major League Baseball players linked to a Miami clinic accused of selling performance-enhancing drugs.

One strike was all that stood between the Washington Nationals and advancing to the National League Championship Series. But baseball can take cruel twists.

Of course the Washington Nationals couldn’t deliver an easy, comfortable entry into the playoffs. But what’s a crucial Nationals game without a few cardiac moments, anyway?

Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Ian Desmond will represent the Nationals at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game later this month, and it’s possible that Bryce Harper could join them.

One reason the Nationals are doing so well in the early stages of the 2012 baseball season: Their starting pitchers throw the hardest fastballs in all of Major League Baseball.

In yesterday’s games, the Capitals dropped the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Boston Bruins in overtime, and while that Nationals home opener ended wildly, it started with some great pitching.