Game # 73
Nats (33-39) vs. Kansas City Royals (29-43)
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Washington goes for the sweep tonight with their 21-year-old ace on the mound. Rookie Stephen Strasburg returns to action against the Royals. The early All-Star talk seems silly – as our columnist Rick Snider writes – after just three starts in the big leagues. But if he keeps pitching like this? Strasburg may force himself into the conversation. You just wonder if it will be at the expense of a teammate. The Nats have a couple of serious candidates – Matt Capps, Ryan Zimmermann, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Ivan Rodriguez – but how many can a last-place team realistically expect?
“I think it’s early for that – even though it’s been mentioned nationally,” said Nats manager Jim Riggleman. “I don’t think he’s considering that one way or the other. He realizes that if he pitches well here there’ll be All-Star appearances down the road for him.”
Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA. In 19 1/3 innings he has 42 strikeouts and five walks – and they all came in one game when he struggled with a balky mound in Cleveland. Opponents have touched him for 10 hits. It’s fantastic stuff. We’ll see if the Nats can get out of this homestand with a sweep and creep closer to .500 with a day off and then a series against the reeling Orioles in Baltimore this weekend. But, as Riggleman says, Strasburg likely won’t win today’s game without some help.
“It magnifies how much of a team game it is. If [Strasburg] goes six innings we’ve still got to finish it off,” Riggleman sais. “Like in the case of the White Sox [Friday], [Gavin] Floyd threw a very good ballgame against him and Steven comes out after six or seven innings and we’re down a run and now you’ve got to play a two or three inning game. It’s the rest of the team that has a lot of responsibility on them also.”
Riggleman says Strasburg will stick in the 90-to-100 pitch area for today. Given the heat and humidity out here at Nationals Park it’d be tough for anyone to go much beyond that. Roger Bernadina is back in right field and bats second in the lineup for just the second time this season. Otherwise the lineup looks the same save for Cristian Guzman getting the day off. Adam Kennedy is in the lineup at second base.
Royals:
Podsednik – LF
Kendall – C
DeJesus – CF
Butler – 1B
Guillen – RF
Callaspo – 3B
Betancourt – SS
Getz – 2B
Bannister – P
Nationals:
Morgan – CF
Bernadina – RF
Zimmerman – 3B
Dunn – 1B
Willingham – LF
Rodriguez – C
Desmond – SS
Kennedy – 2B
Strasburg – P
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