Marlins 4, Nationals 1
The players canât and wonât â and for good reason. But fans and media are free to ignore the final score of Saturdayâs bummer of a loss and look at the bigger picture: Stephen Strasburg is kind of ridiculous. Yes, he gave up a double to Chris Volstad, the opposing pitcher. He also needed just 61 pitches to get through six innings, threw 45 strikes and generally kept the Marlins off balance all game. Check out the details in our game story here.
Now, Strasburg was a tad grumpy afterwards. Some of his post-game answers had about as many words as he threw pitches in the third (eight), fourth (11), fifth (5!) and sixth innings (eight). He went to a 3-2 count just once all game. He was ahead of the batter 0-1 in 13 of 21 at-bats. He went 0-2 six different times.
In the end, Strasburg relied heavily on his fastball with 35 four-seamers and another 13 two-seamers, according to MLB.comâs pitch tracker. He threw his change-up only eight times, but that thing remains a deadly weapon. He twice struck out Marlins batters with it and also got an easy ground out to second. Six of the eight times he threw it was for either an out or a strike. This is a guy whoâs pitched in the big leagues three times since last Sept. 3?
âItâs really amazing. [Strasburg] really worked hard in that recovery,â Washington manager Davey Johnson said. âBut heâs in great shape. Iâve been kind of treating him like anybody else, but six innings he was still [at 61 pitches]. I sure didnât want to take him out. But getting six innings after the last time only three [against Houston last Sunday], I figured that was plenty.â
Johnson cringes a little when Strasburgâs velocity creeps too far into the upper 90s. His strikeout of Florida slugger Mike Stanton in the first inning touched 99 on the radar gun. Johnson figures Strasburg throws hard enough and with good movement. He doesnât need to dial it up at this point in his recovery from Tommy John. But with control like that, a patient approach is almost useless. And by the end the Marlins had to go after whatever pitch looked close. Thatâs all Strasburg needed as he mowed through the batting order in those final four innings.
He finished with six ground ball outs, including one double play, eight fly ball outs and three strikeouts. Those overall numbers â 14 innings, two earned runs, nine hits, 11 strikeouts, 0 walks â are as good as you can expect after a year away from the sport. Youâll get at least one â and probably two, though that decision hasnât been made official yet â more looks at Strasburg in 2011. But so far, so good.
âHeâs looking good every single time. Every time heâs going deeper and deeper [into the game],â said Nats reliever Collin Balester, who finally faltered in the 13th inning during his third inning of work. âHis stuff is definitely not an issue. Heâs throwing the ball well. Heâs going to be good. Itâs fun to play behind him and be in the bullpen for him. Tonight we just couldnât pull it off for him.â
Would have been nice for the Nats to end the game in the 11th inning when a throwing error put Ian Desmond on second base. Canât say I blame Florida for issuing an intentional walk to Ryan Zimmerman with Desmond on third and one out. Would have been nice to reward the bullpen for a strong outing. But the Natsâ offense is what it is at this point in the year. Washington dropped its second straight and fell to 71-79 overall. But Strasburgâs start provides more hope for 2012 and â for fans at least, if not the team itself â that should be enough.
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