Righty allows no runs in first start since ’10 There was limited electricity this time, no sellout crowd roaring after every pitch. But the skies cleared just long enough Tuesday evening to allow Stephen Strasburg to take the mound again at Nationals Park and that was all that mattered.
Pitching in a big league game for the first time since last Aug.21, Strasburg made a triumphant return from Tommy John surgery. On a strict pitch count, Washington’s right-handed ace lasted five innings with no runs allowed and four strikeouts against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Unfortunately, the bullpen coughed up a 3-0 lead after his departure and handed the 23-year-old a familiar no-decision. The game — with an announced attendance of 29,092 — entered a rain delay in the top of the seventh inning with the score tied 3-3. The Dodgers then added two runs in the top of the eighth inning on a single by Rod Barajas and two more in the ninth on a double by Andre Ethier to take an eventual 7-3 victory.
“It was really a pretty nice night,” said Washington manager Davey Johnson. “It just got a little ugly later on. But [Strasburg] was special. It was nice seeing him back.” Strasburg, who had the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow repaired last Sept. 3, threw an efficient 56 pitches, 40 of them for strikes. The Dodgers managed just two hits and Strasburg didn’t walk a batter. Considering the torrential rains that plagued the area throughout the day, the Nats were just happy Strasburg pitched at all. The weather held off early with light showers passing through by the fourth inning to little affect. It wasn’t until long after Strasburg left that there was a 31-minute rain delay with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
“It’s not like I was waiting 368 days for this time. I’m still on a mission here,” said Strasburg, who didn’t throw a baseball until five months after surgery and spent all spring and most of the summer rehabbing at Washington’s spring training complex in Viera, Fla. “I wanted to get stronger mentally and physically through this process. I had something new that I wanted to work on every single day here. I didn’t waste a minute waiting for this time to come because I knew it was going to be sooner than later. Strasburg even did some damage at home plate. A nice sacrifice bunt with a runner at second base turned out better than expected in the second inning. Los Angeles pitcher Ted Lilly fielded the ball near the third-base line but bounced a long throw past first baseman James Loney. That scored Wilson Ramos and allowed Strasburg to advance to second. He took third on a single by Ian Desmond and scored on a ground out to second by Jayson Werth. That was part of a three-run inning for the Nats. Ramos had previously doubled home rookie Chris Marrero.
On the mound, meanwhile, Strasburg was all business after a bloop leadoff double by Dee Gordon. He retired the next 11 Los Angeles batters in a row and 15 of the last 16 he faced overall. Only Juan Rivera poked a single to left field. Strasburg focused on his fastball, throwing 44 of them to five change-ups and seven curves. He fired first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 17 batters he faced, retiring seven batters on fly balls and four on ground outs to go with those four strikeouts.
“It looked like he didn’t skip a beat,” said Washington shortstop Ian Desmond. “Last year when he got hurt he did an interview and he said ‘I’m going to come back smarter, stronger. I’m going to take this time to get better.’ It looked like he did… That’s pretty special to come back with the adrenaline, with the media, with everything else and be able to hone in on the strike zone and do your job to that ability.” The Nats went through this late last summer when Jordan Zimmermann returned from his own Tommy John surgery and struggled at times to maintain any consistent form. Maybe one game his breaking pitches were off, maybe another his velocity wasn’t what it had been before surgery or he struggled to avoid walks. Zimmermann needed those two months to shake off the rust and set up what became a fine 2011 season for Washington. At least for one night, those standards didn’t apply to Strasburg.
“That is the norm for Tommy John [surgery],” said Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty. “Ask yourself: Is this guy normal?” [email protected]
