Stephen Strasburg entered last night’s action having allowed seven earned runs combined over his last four starts. So of course he gave up a career-high seven earned runs over just two innings in an 8-3 loss to the last-place Marlins. Baseball, man.
After being handed a quick 3-0 lead, Strasburg really struggled with his control in the bottom of the first inning, as he walked the bases loaded. Marcell Ozuna then made him pay by clearing the bases with a triple. Derek Dietrich followed with an RBI single and was eventually driven in on an RBI single by opposing pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. The five runs were the most Strasburg has ever allowed in one inning. Giancarlo Stanton connected for a two-run homer in the second inning before Strasburg was replaced by Ross Ohlendorf to begin the third. It was his shortest outing since he was pulled from a start on May 31 after two innings due to a lat strain.
Strasburg gave up five hits and four walks while throwing just 33 out of 66 pitches for strikes. The important part is that he’s healthy, but the 24-year-old right-hander told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that he was having mechanical issues.
“It’s frustrating. I threw ball one, ball two. The batters put a good swing [on the ball],” Strasburg said. “I was too much open to home plate to start. That messed everything up from there. It caused me to fly open even more.”
Strasburg will go into the All-Star break at 5-7 to go along with a 2.99 ERA and 109/37 K/BB ratio in 108 1/3 innings over 18 starts. The ERA still looks mighty good, but from a lack of run support to the lat issue, it’s been a frustrating first half. The same can be said for the Nationals, actually.
