The clock was ticking and nobody knew if Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg would emerge from the dugout to pitch once an unwelcome rain delay had ended on Tuesday night or if his brief 2 2/3 innings of work was all the big crowd of 33,888 would get.
The drop dead time was one hour, according to Washington manager Davey Johnson. After that the organization would not risk Strasburg’s health by pushing him back onto the mound after sitting that long – even if the bullpen was in desperate need of rest. So twice Strasburg went into the cages adjacent to the tunnel leading to the Nats dugout and threw 10-to-15 warm-up pitches.
In between he rested in the clubhouse as he would during a game waiting for his teammates to finish their at-bats. After the second stint in the cages word came: The game would resume at 8:30 p.m., a delay of 51 minutes. Strasburg would continue.
“It’s my first time really dealing with the rain delay or anything,” Strasburg said. “[Pitching coach Steve McCatty] kind of coached me through it. He had me make sure I was throwing in-between, throwing in the cage and when it was time to go out there again, long-toss a little bit and get right back out there.”
And, boy, was he ready. Whether it was the moment – a huge game for his club against NL East rival Atlanta – or just one of those nights where all his pitches were working in concert, Strasburg was even better upon his return.
“He was totally locked in tonight,” catcher Jesus Flores said. “He was hitting my spots. We were pitching a lot inside to those guys and then the breaking ball was so effective to them that they was pretty much swinging at everything.”
Strasburg lasted six innings. He struck out six of the first eight batters he faced after the rain delay and finished with 10 strikeouts total with just one walk and four hits allowed. Atlanta’s lone run came on a sacrifice fly in the sixth. But even as Strasburg faced his final batter, slugger Dan Uggla with two outs in that frame, a passed ball hit Flores’ leg and stayed within reach. He gunned a throw to second base to retire runner Jason Heyward. Strasburg pumped his fist and departed, one of his best starts of the season behind him.
“He was on. He was just painting. Had everything working,” said shortstop Ian Desmond, who homered early in the game and had one of the best seats in the house. “It was fun to watch. Change-up, curveball, fastball. You name it. There were all devastating. One of the more impressive things I’ve seen out of him, especially coming out of that rain delay.”
Strasburg’s change-up was deadly on the Braves’ left-handed hitting lineup. That pitch is still thrown around 90 miles-per-hour and seems to dart away from lefties, which is when Washington uses it the most. It worked well on Tuesday. But it was the curve that impressed Johnson the most, a tight spiral that left Atlanta’s batters flailing.
“I thought my breaking ball was working better, to be honest,” Strasburg said. “I went to that a little bit more than I have my change-up. That was a big thing that I’ve been able to start throwing more for strikes early and whenever I try and do too much with my change-up or finesse it up there, it gets hit. So I wanted to keep that in my back pocket and really work off fastball, sinker, curveball.”
And now he takes one step closer to his last start of the 2012 season. The Nats insist Strasburg, in his first full year after Tommy John surgery, will be shut down in September and not pitch in the playoffs. Management has never wavered from that stance. He is up to 145 1/3 innings and his last start could be as soon as Sept. 7 or as late as Sept. 19 depending how far the team is willing to go with him. Innings, general manager Mike Rizzo has long said, will not be the sole determining factor.
“It’s a tribute to the program that I’ve been on,” Strasburg said. “It’s really helped me get stronger and I think I’ve been able to refine my mechanics as the season went on. I feel great. I feel like I’ve got a lot more in the tank.”
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