Strasburg heads to DL; Gonzo homers 3 times

Stephen Strasburg’s weary right elbow was stiff and in dire need of some rest, so the Washington Nationals put their winningest pitcher on the 15-day disabled list Monday.

The righthander was willing to pitch through the pain for the NL East-leading Nationals, but manager Dusty Baker had other plans. “I told him we hadn’t won anything yet and that we had to look at the big picture,” Baker said. “Hopefully he’ll be good in September and hopefully in October.”

Baker expected Strasburg (153, 3.59 ERA) to spend the minimum amount of time on the DL.

Later Monday, Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 38th home run as the host Orioles beat the Nationals, 4-3.

l Adrian Gonzalez hit three of the Dodgers’ seven homers — driving in a career-high eight runs — leading Los Angeles to an 18-9 victory and a split of its fourgame series with the host Reds. The Milwaukee Bucks signed free agent guard Jason Terry, a 17-year NBA veteran who spent the last two season with the Rockets. Terms were not disclosed.

Coach Gary Kubiak named Trevor Siemian the starter for the Broncos’ third preseason game over Mark Sanchez and said he will decide next week who will be under center against Carolina for the season opener on Sept. 8. “It’s down to the nitty gritty here,” Kubiak said. “I don’t have to but I’m going to make a decision next week.”

Chris Laviano will be the starting quarterback for Rutgers. First-year coach Chris Ash announced the decision on Monday, less than two weeks before the season opener at Washington. Laviano started 11 games last season. He edged TCU transfer Zach Allen, fellow redshirt junior Hayden Rettig and redshirt sophomore Giovanni Rescigno for the job.