The Washington Nationals got back to .500 on the season thanks to Stephen Strasburg’s masterful pitching performance against the Mets.
The Washington Nationals are winners of two consecutive games for the first time in 2019! The Nats earned a 3-0 win over the New York Mets, due in large part to a masterful pitching performance by starter Stephen Strasburg.
The bats backed up Strasburg by doing a little bit of everything. Wilmer Difo executed a safety squeeze bunt to score a run, Ryan Zimmerman scored a run on a sac fly, and Victor Robles blasted his second home run of the season.
Here are some takeaways from the game.
Strasburg’s Dominant Start to Season
In today’s outing, Strasburg’s final line looked like prime Strasburg.
He finished with 6.2 IP / 3 H / 1 BB / 9 K and the pitcher’s win. After an unlucky start last Saturday, in which he was charged with earned runs that weren’t entirely his fault, he bounced back tremendously.
Today, Strasburg did two things that the team desperately needed.
For one, he stabilized the momentum of the team. After a lousy Opening Weekend, and an even worse Tuesday night, Strasburg settled down his team and leading them to a nice, quiet, controlled win.
Secondly, he gave the bullpen a bit of a break. By pitching deep, he allowed Davey Martinez to play matchup ball with Matt Grace and Tony Sipp. He didn’t need to force Trevor Rosenthal into the game because of Strasburg throwing 108 great pitches today.
Wilmer Difo Picking Up Where Trea Left Off
While we can’t expect these types of performances each game, Difo was critical in the Nats win.
He tallied two RBI’s despite recording only one hit. That one hit was a bloop single to left field in the top of the ninth to score the fourth run of the game.
He also executed a beautiful bunt that scored the first run of the game.
Difo doesn’t need to drive in runs every single game, but the Nats cannot afford for him to be a liability in Trea Turner’s absence.
With an off day tomorrow, the Nats play again on Saturday against the Mets. Patrick Corbin will make his second start in a Curly W uniform.