Right-hander Stephen Strasburg pitched five scoreless innings in his return as the Nationals defeated the Braves, 3-1, in Tuesday night’s series opener at Nationals Park. In his first game since May 29, Strasburg waited out a two-hour, 12-minute weather delay, then held Atlanta to four hits and one walk while striking out six to pick up his fourth victory.
“It’s good to get back out there. Obviously, I’ve been working real hard to get things in the right direction. I was able to keep the lead,” Strasburg said. “I want to go out there and execute pitches, pitch my game. I talked to a lot guys in the clubhouse while I was away. It really shed some light into what my strengths and weaknesses are. I really just tried to pitch to my strengths.”
Braves left-hander Alex Wood wasn’t bad either, lasting seven innings and allowing three runs on 10 hits, but losing his fifth game.
Cameron Maybin drove in Atlanta’s only run when he homered off left-hander Matt Thornton in the eighth.
With their fourth consecutive victory, the Nats improved to 38-33, moving 2 1/2 games ahead of the Mets, while the third-place Braves had their three-game win streak snapped and fell three games back. “It’s disappointing,” Wood said. “You come in here with first place on the line. We battled from start to finish.” Wood had only himself to blame when he surrendered a Span double and Anthony Rendon’s RBI single before recording his first out. But he didn’t get much help from his defense a short time later. Michael Taylor reached second base and later scored after Maybin bobbled his leadoff single in the third inning. Taylor might not have had a chance to deliver an RBI single in the fourth had second baseman Jace Peterson been quick enough to turn a double play after third baseman Juan Uribe fielded Danny Espinosa’s grounder and threw to second.
Right-hander Shelby Miller will take the mound when Atlanta and Washington resume the three-game series Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. CT. Miller has posted a 0.73 ERA in four career starts against the Nationals, but he has not faced them this season. Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast beginning at 6:00 PM.
