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Washington Nationals: Stephen Strasburg Suffers First Defeat In Loss To Dodgers

By Chris Lacey

Jul 21, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (37) throws to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (37) throws to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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A rare bad start from Stephen Strasburg led to the Washington Nationals dropping the rubber game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Washington Nationals had their ace on the mound in an afternoon contest, but Stephen Strasburg didn’t have his best stuff. A pair of home runs from Justin Turner helped the Dodgers win, 6-3.

Turner hit a two-run home run in the opening inning to give the Dodgers an early 2-0 advantage.

Bryce Harper helped the Nationals respond in the bottom half of the first inning with a sacrifice fly to score Trea Turner to trim the deficit 2-1.

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Adrian Gonzalez singled home a run to push the lead to 3-1 in the third frame. Turner followed that up with a three-run homer (17th of the season) to provide the Dodgers with a 6-1 cushion. He finished the game with two home runs and five RBIs.

Julio Urias threw the ball well in his brief outing. The youngster tossed four innings of one-run ball while striking out four batters and allowing five hits. He didn’t issue a walk on 77 pitches (51 strikes) in a no-decision.

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    • This was the seventh time in nine starts that Urias has thrown fewer than 90 pitches.

    Anthony Rendon had a chance to trim the deficit with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth but was unable to come through, as he flew out to end the inning.

    Danny Espinosa scorched a doubled to right field in the bottom of the sixth to shrink the lead to 6-2. Ben Revere pinch-hit for Stephen Strasburg in the sixth but struck out.

    Strasburg had his first bad start of the season.

    He threw six innings, surrendered six runs, allowed seven hits, issued one walk, struck out 10 and gave up two home runs on 103 pitches (70 strikes) in suffering his first loss of the season.

    This was the most earned runs given up by Strasburg in a start since early 2015, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post.

    The right-hander wasn’t able to settle into a groove, as the two home runs by Turner in the first and third innings were devastating. However, he did finish the outing strong, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters faced.

    Matt Belisle made quick work of the Dodgers in the seventh inning as he only threw eight pitches to retire the side.

    Daniel Murphy dropped the lead to 6-3 with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. It was his 69th RBI of the year.

    Oliver Perez relieved Belisle, and the southpaw tossed a scoreless eighth inning. Koda Glover followed the Nats’ bullpen trend, throwing a scoreless ninth.

    Kenley Jansen recorded his 28th game of the season, and reliever Adam Liberatore earned his second win of 2016.

    Next Game: The Washington Nationals (57-39) will welcome the San Diego Padres (41-54) to town for a three-game series which starts tomorrow.

    Luis Perdomo (3-4, 7.36 ERA) will be on the mound for the Padres, and Tanner Roark (9-5, 2.82 ERA) gets the call for Nationals.

    You can watch the game at 7:05 p.m. ET on MASN.

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