TOLEDO — The death toll from a tornado that hit northern Ohio just over a week ago is now at six. (more…)

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OBERLIN — A Medina family of five injured in an accident over the weekend is doing OK.

Their westbound vehicle went off Parsons Road and struck a drain pipe in a ditch, according to Trooper Allen Marcum of the Elyria post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

They were happy this afternoon to locate their dog, which jumped out of their car as they were being rescued. A woman who lives on Parsons Road said she found a dog that matched the description of Bella over the weekend, and she turned her in to the county dog warden.

According to a message from the sister of the woman hurt in the crash, they checked with the dog warden this afternoon and confirmed it was Bella that had been turned in and that Bella, a “puggle” — a cross between a pug and a beagle — is going home.

The family released the following statement via e-mail: “Our greatest thanks goes out to all of those who helped find our baby puppy, Bella. Thanks to the newspapers, family, friends and those who were strangers but now a friend. God was looking over us all and we are grateful. Pray for us now in our time of recovery.”

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.”

More photos below.

With his fastball clocking in consistently at 99-100 mph and a wicked 83-85 mph breaking ball, Strasburg retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced, five by strikeout.

The only hit was a big one, with Travis Hafner accounting for the lone run off the 21-year-old right-hander when he lined 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 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 his 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 as the pitcher had the grounds crew out to repair the mound on two occasions.

The control issues hastened Strasburg’s departure. He left with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth after allowing the blooper to Santana, followed by consecutive walks. The Nationals led 6-1 at the time.

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.

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But the left-hander fell apart in the sixth, allowing the Nats to take control with four runs. Huff retired the first two batters he faced in the inning before allowing the next four to reach base, and left after surrendering six runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings.

“I thought David threw the ball very well until that last inning,” Acta said. “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 sixthinning 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.

Nearly 33,000 people showed up at Progressive Field on Sunday, and it wasn’t because it was a sunny afternoon or because the Cleveland Indians were giving away their newest bobblehead doll.

The second-largest crowd of the season was there to watch Nation­als rookie Stephen Strasburg pitch and the 21-year-old right-hander didn’t disappoint. His fastball was humming, his curveball and sinker were nasty and his change-up was in the mid-80s. Strasburg went 5 1 / 3 innings in his first major league road game, giving up just a pair of hits, one run while striking out eight. He raised his record to 2-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.19.

It was a solid follow-up to his major league debut five days ago against the Pirates in which he picked up the win by striking out 14 and walking none.

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“I think there’s a lot of pressure on him to per­form,” Indians first baseman Russell Branyan said.

“There’s definitely a lot more expectations with him just being him. The guy’s promising, he’s new to the league and he’s a big deal right now.”

The person least impressed with Strasburg seems to be Strasburg himself. He said he ignores what’s written about him and doesn’t watch TV shows that discuss him.

“I still watch (TV),” he said, “I just don’t watch any of those channels.”

Even the speed of his pitches doesn’t get him excited. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder threw 43 pitches over 97 mph Sunday, nine of them reaching triple digits.

“Velocity doesn’t really matter,” he said. “Look at that (100-mph pitch) I threw (Indians designated hitter Travis) Hafner. He located the fastball and he turned on it.

“It was down, which was good, but I was trying to throw a sinker and I cut it a bit. It did exactly the opposite of what I wanted it to do.”

Hafner’s solo home run in the second inning was the only hit Strasburg surrendered until rookie catcher Carlos Santana blooped one into right field in the sixth.

In between, Strasburg faced 16 batters without surrendering a hit.

Even though Strasburg never managed to reach double digits in strikeouts in his 11 minor league starts — he averaged 10.62 K’s per nine innings — he’s averaging 11 in just 6 1 / 3 innings during his first two major league starts.

“I know there’ll be nights where I have just one, two or none (strikeouts),” he said. “I really want (the opposing batters) to swing their bats. I want them to put the ball in play and let my defense do the work.”

One of the most amazing things about Strasburg’s first two starts is that the results aren’t even that surprising. Strasburg wasn’t just considered the top pitching prospect in last year’s draft, he’s considered the top pitching prospect in decades.

In this modern media age, hype is a hard thing to suppress once a young athlete with that talent level grabs the public’s attention and journalists begin using words like “phenom” and “prodigy” to describe him.

Just 35 miles from Sunday’s spectacle, crowds began to fill the gymnasium at St. Vincent-St.

Mary High in Akron during LeBron James’ sophomore and junior seasons, mostly because the young basketball player was getting as much airtime on ESPN as any NBA player at the time.

The school had to move its home games to the University of Akron’s James A. Rhodes Arena during LeBron’s senior year to accommodate the newfound fan base and meet the growing media’s demands.

So it wasn’t much of a surprise that the people of Cleveland — and probably many others within a two-hour driving range — wanted to be on hand Sunday afternoon to see a pitcher many expect to have a long and successful career and who some have already tabbed a future Hall of Famer.

While that kind of expectation should probably be tempered, Strasburg has certainly shown anybody who’s paying attention that he has the tools on the mound and the composure in the clubhouse to achieve great results no matter how long his career might last.

Who wouldn’t have been thrilled to be sitting courtside for Michael Jordan’s first game with the Chicago Bulls, knowing he’d become the greatest basketball player of all time? What hockey fan wouldn’t have loved to pound on the glass after Wayne Gretzky scored his first professional goal, knowing the Great One was on his way to becoming a legend?

There are probably elderly men and women sitting on their porches in neighborhoods throughout Cleveland at this very moment talking about Jim Brown’s rookie season with the Cleveland Browns and how they were there to see his amazing performances.

So for those in attendance during Washington’s 9-4 win over the Indians on Sunday, watching Strasburg was a lot of fun but it could become an even greater memory as the years roll on and he potentially cements himself as one of the game’s greats.

He even earned a bit of praise from one of those already established greats. “The kid did a good job,” Indians Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller said. “He was a little wild at times. He’ll have his good days and bad days like anybody else.”

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.