|
 "I didn't know it was going to be a two-hour delay," the Washington
Nationals right-hander, who came off the disabled list earlier
Tuesday, said. "It was nothing I hadn't experienced before. It was
good to get back out there."
Strasburg dealt with more than his share of rain delays in the past,
but this time a delay of 2 hours, 12 minutes didn't seem to bother
him as he tossed five scoreless innings and gave up just four hits
as the Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday.
Third baseman Anthony Rendon had four hits and an RBI, catcher
Wilson Ramos had three hits and left fielder Michael A. Taylor and
center fielder Denard Span each had two hits, a run and an RBI.
"He just moves the baseball the other way," Nationals manager Matt
Williams said of right-handed hitting Rendon, who shot a single down
the first-base line to drive in Span with the first run in the
first.
Taylor has seen a lot of action in left field with Jayson Werth on
the disabled list.
"He is finding his way as a big leaguer," Williams said of Taylor
(.249), who made his major league debut last August.
The Nationals had 10 hits off Atlanta starter Alex Wood (4-5), who
hung around for seven innings while giving up nine singles and
single runs in the first, third and fourth while making 98 pitches.
"I think he pitched good; he gave us seven innings. He gave us a
chance to win it," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Wood. "He
is going to get the (loss) and Strasburg is going to get the (win).
In the back of my mind I thought he pitched better than Strasburg.
Obviously he got deeper in the game with his pitch count and Stephen
didn't. That is baseball."
Strasburg (4-5) kept the momentum going for the Washington starters,
who have allowed just one run in the last four games covering 28 1/3
innings. The right-hander posted his first win since May 17. He was
on a pitch count of about 95 and threw 94.
"They are finding their stride," Williams said of the starting
rotation. "I certainly hope that trend continues."
Strasburg entered the game with an ERA of 6.55 and made a minor
league rehab start at Double-A Harrisburg on June 16.
"I wanted them to swing at the fastball," said Strasburg, whose last
pitch of the night was clocked at 97 miles-per-hour to end the
fifth. "Sometimes you just have to take a step back (to adjust). I
thought I threw some good curveballs; I thought I threw some good
changeups. You just have to stick to your game plan."
"He was throwing the ball real hard," Atlanta first baseman Chris
Johnson said of Strasburg. "His curveball was looking real good. He
was working both sides of the plate. We battled a lot, tried to get
his pitch count up, maybe try to do something against the bullpen,
but their bullpen came in and did pretty well. It's just one game.
Bounce back tomorrow."
[to top of second column] |
Atlanta center fielder Cameron Maybin hit a solo homer with two outs
in the eighth off Matt Thornton to break up the shutout and cut the
lead to 3-1. Dave Carpenter came in with two outs and two on in the
eighth to retire third baseman Juan Uribe, and Drew Storen pitched
the ninth for his 21st save as he retired Maybin on a foul pop to
Ramos for the last out with the bases loaded.
The first-place Nationals (38-33) won their fourth game in a row
while the third-place Braves (35-36) had their three-game winning
streak snapped. Washington has won six in a row over the Braves.
"They are a good club. Taylor had a nice game for them," Gonzalez
said.
Tanner Roark, making his first appearance since June 16, went two
innings and retired all six batters after taking over for Strasburg
in the sixth.
Nick Markakis, the Atlanta right fielder, had three singles.
The last Washington starting pitcher to give up a run was rookie Joe
Ross, who allowed one on Friday in 7 1/3 innings to Pittsburgh. That
was followed by a no-hit shutout Saturday by Max Scherzer and seven
scoreless innings by Gio Gonzalez in a 9-2 win Sunday over the
Pirates.
Span, who has reached base in 16 straight games, had an RBI single
in the third to make it 2-0 against Wood.
Washington built the margin to 3-0 in the fourth on an RBI single by
Taylor.
Strasburg, making his first start since going on the disabled list
May 30, had six strikeouts and no walks.
The Braves were without first baseman Freddie Freeman, who went on
the disabled list Tuesday with a wrist contusion.
"We have to step up," said Johnson.
NOTES: Washington RHP Max Scherzer was named the National League
Player of the Week on Monday after he threw a no-hitter on Saturday
at home against the Pirates. ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg
was activated off the disabled list to start Tuesday against the
Braves. The Nationals sent rookie RHP Joe Ross to Triple-A Syracuse
to make room for Strasburg. ... Braves 1B Freddie Freeman went on
the disabled list Tuesday with a right wrist contusion, according to
manager Fredi Gonzalez. Freeman had played in 234 games in a row
before sitting out Friday. The Braves called up INF/OF Joey
Terdoslavich.
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