Nationals: Takeaways From 14-1 Win Over D’Backs
By Ricky Keeler
Strasburg’s Great All-Around Night
Strasburg continued his winning ways last night against the Diamondbacks, who scored the third fewest runs of any National League team in July (99). Strasburg went six innings, gave up one run on three hits, struck out six, and walked two on 99 pitches (66 strikes) in his 15th win of the season.
With the win last night, Strasburg has tied his career-high for most wins in a season (15 back in 2012) with still a couple months left in the season. His one tough inning last night was the bottom of the first. Jean Segura led off with a double, but he was the lone run in the game to score for Arizona when Paul Goldschmidt hit a RBI groundout.
After that first inning, Strasburg gave up two singles over the final five innings and struck out four of the final seven batters he faced. Even though Strasburg does have one loss in the second half of the season, he has held the opposition to a .168 batting average in his last four starts (eight runs allowed in 27 innings).
Plus, Strasburg has received a lot of run support from his offense this season. After last night’s great offensive performance, the Nats have scored 6.75 runs per game in his outings. That is almost one run higher than the pitcher with the second best run support (Jake Arrieta of the Cubs – 5.86).
Even though Strasburg gets a lot of run support, it should not take away from the great season that Strasburg is having this year. He continues to give the Washington Nationals a chance to win every time he takes the mound. Last night was just continuing to make his case to be a Cy Young winner this year.
Next: Offense Keeps Line Moving