Cleveland Indians: Strasburg as Good as Advertised

6 - 13 - 10     vs. Washington     L, 9 - 4     25 - 37

     The 32,786 fans who packed into Progressive Field to watch the series finale between the Indians and Nationals, can say they saw the most hyped pitching phenom since former Indian Bob Feller.  Stephen Strasburg became a national phenomenon following his 14 strikeout major league debut, and Clevelanders were obviously paying attention because they flocked to the ballpark for his second career start.
     Strasburg had all his pitches going for him in the 1st as he struck out Trevor Crowe on a head high fastball and then got Shin - Soo Choo to chase a changeup down and in.  Carlos Santana finally put the ball in play, but his line drive was right at Josh Willingham in left - center field.
     Given a 1 - 0 lead thanks to a Mike Morse RBI single, Strasburg made his first mistake of the afternoon in the bottom of the 2nd.  He grooved a fastball to Travis Hafner and, unlike the hitters Stephen faced at the minor league level, Pronk turned on the 100 mile per hour heater and lined it just over the wall in right for a game tying home run.  Showing his toughness, the Washington right - hander came right back to strike out both Russell Branyan and Jhonny Peralta with a pair of nasty curveballs.
     Strasburg grounded out the side in the 3rd, and after Adam Dunn hit a solo jack in the top of the 4th, the phenom had his best inning of the day.  He whiffed Choo on a breaking ball, Austin Kearns on a two seamer, and Branyan with the high heat.  He also worked around a pair of walks as he began having some issues with the mound that would resurface in the 6th.
     In the 5th, the kid struck out Peralta again, this time by blowing a fastball by him, and he walked another batter, but it didn't come back to hurt him.
     When Strasburg took the hill in the 6th, the game was already out of hand due to the four runs the Nats had scored in the top of the frame, and that was good news for Stephen because he was about to have some serious problems with the mound again.  Strasburg walked the bases loaded with only one out, and in the midst of all that he had the grounds crew come out and repair the mound.  It didn't work as Strasburg continued to have issues with his landing spot, and he had to be relieved by Drew Storen.  Storen is another hard thrower and he got out of the mess without allowing a single run to score.
     When you consider all of the adverse conditions Stephen Strasburg had to deal with, you would have to admit that he had a pretty good outing.  Remember this was his first road start in the big leagues and for a rookie, a little soft spot at the base of the mound can be a big issue.  He finished the day having gone 5 1/3 innings while allowing only one run on just two base hits to go along with eight K's and five bases on balls.  Strasburg is now 2 - 0 to start his promising career.
     The Tribe went on to plate three runs in the 9th, but the final result was still ugly.