CLEVELAND – Stephen Strasburg wasn’t as dominant as he was in his major league debut, but the Nationals right-handed phenom was still plenty good enough to beat the Indians in his second career start.
Despite control issues that saw him walk five batters Strasburg was still effective, helping Washington past Cleveland, 9-4, in front of 32,876 fans at Progressive Field on Sunday – most of whom were in the park to catch baseball’s latest craze.
Strasburg wasn’t around long — 5 1/3 innings thanks to a mounting pitch count — but he set the tone early and left a lasting impression by allowing just a run on two hits, while striking out eight.
“We couldn’t get much going offensively against Strasburg,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose club’s season-long winning streak was snapped at four games. “He showed that power arm and he had an impressive breaking ball. The breaking ball was what we were impressed by.
“That’s what makes him so good. I don’t think anyone in this league can’t handle a fastball in the upper-90s. But the fact that he has the breaking ball that he has and control of it, that’s what makes him so effective. He’s going to be good for a long time if he stays healthy.”
With his fastball clocking in consistently at 99-100 mph and a wicked 83-85 mph breaking ball, Strausburg retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced, striking out five of them.
The only hit was a big one, with Travis Hafner accounting for the lone run off the 21-year-old right-hander, lining a 1-0 offering over the right-field wall to tie the game at one in the second inning.
The other hit Strasburg yielded was a bloop single to Carlos Santana.
“He’s obviously got really good stuff,” said Hafner, who was the only Cleveland player to reach base in all of his at-bats off Strasburg, walking twice after his homer. “He was throwing 100 (mph) with a good breaking ball. He’s really good.”
“He’s got two starts in the big leagues and he held us to two hits,” said Cleveland first baseman Russell Branyan, who struck out in both of his at-bats against Strasburg. “We got a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing.”
Strasburg didn’t walk a batter in his big league debut against the Pirates on Tuesday, but he began struggling with control in the fourth, an inning in which he walked a pair but still was able to strike out the side.
A mound issue most likely played a part in Strasburg’s wild side. The pitcher had the grounds crew out to repair the mound on two occasions during his outing.
The control issues hastened his departure, Strasburg leaving with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth after allowing the blooper to Santana, followed by consecutive walks. He departed with the Nationals in front 6-1.
Indians starter David Huff kept the Indians in the game over the first five innings, allowing two runs on four hits – one a solo homer to Adam Dunn to lead off the fourth.
But the left-hander fell apart in the sixth, allowing the Nats to take control with four runs in the inning. Huff retired the first two batters he faced in the sixth before allowing the next four to reach base, leaving after surrendering six runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings.
“I thought David threw the ball very well until that last inning,” said Acta. “He let that inning get away from him with two outs. I think he was excited and pumped up to be competing. He was very good for five innings.”
“I think I was rushing a little bit,” Huff said of the sixth-inning collapse. “The ball was up and they took advantage.”
Huff (2-8, 5.82 ERA) said his counterpart played no part in his approach to his 12th start of the season.
“It was just another game,” Huff said. “The game doesn’t change just because of who you’re pitching against.
“Once every blue moon, a guy like that comes along. It’s good for the game. I’m happy for him. Good for him.”
And bad for the Indians.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.
