Strasburg Seeks Return to Winning Against Braves
Tonight Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg may have to showcase an ability of his that has never been challenged: how well he can recover from a loss. In his last year at San Diego State University, Strasburg lost only a single game and went 13-1. After being selected as the top pick by the Washington Nationals and being sent to the minors, Strasburg went 7-2 in 11 games. After a commanding beginning to his Major League Baseball career, Strasburg suffered his first loss at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on June 23.
Strasburg’s 1-0 loss is nothing to worry about and he gave up the solitary run on nine hits. In regards to the defeat, Strasburg said: "For the most part, I went out there and threw strikes. [I made] a couple mistakes, but they didn't really hit the ball hard except for a couple of times; they just found the holes. You know, that's baseball."
A big part of MLB pitching is the ability to recover from a loss, and Strasburg will be able to continue showing off how Big League-ready he is by putting in a solid performance against the Atlanta Braves.
The match up could be even more interesting if rookie phenomena Jason Heyward is able to play for the Braves. The outfielder leads all rookies in RBIs and walks and is tied for the top spot in home runs. Unfortunately, Heyward is currently dealing with a sore left thumb and has not been batting in practice or playing offensively in games. He was used on Saturday's game against the Tigers as a defensive substitution and subsequently sat out the entirety of the Braves game on Sunday.
Heyward says he would love to face off in a battle between the best rookie pitcher and the best rookie hitter, but must focus on his health first. Heyward, who is getting an MRI prior to the game, said: "It would be fun, and it would be awesome but that would be something, to go out there and play and then not be ready to go back out there and play again. I don't see this like I'm sitting out because of an injury. I look at it like I'm sitting out to take care of it now, so that I don't have to worry about it later."
Strasburg has other things to worry about besides Jason Heyward, as he is facing Tim Hudson, a two-time All-Star who is currently 7-2. Hudson is also seeking to recover from a tough loss, after he gave up all four runs in a 4-2 loss to the White Sox in his last start. In that game, Hudson gave up to home runs to the Sox’ Carlos Quentin.
"I got in a little bit of a jam right there in the fourth innings, and Quentin is a strong guy," Hudson said. "He hit a good pitch. I thought the wind might have helped it a little bit. But he's a strong guy. His second homer, I probably could have hit that one out of the park."
The Braves are current atop the National League East standings, and Washington is struggling at the bottom of the table. The Braves are heavy favourites as they also scored a commanding 26-8 while playing at Turner Field. Also boding well for the Braves is that the Nationals are only 13-27 on the road. For the Nationals to pull off this upset, a strong performance by Strasburg is almost a necessity, and all eyes will watching the rookie to see if he can do it.
Tags: