Stephen Strasburg led the Nats to their 4th straight win, and in the process improved to 13-0 with a 2.51 ERA.
Strasburg looked like he had no-hitter stuff again and was aided by exceptional defense until a little problem in the 5th with a Marte single, stolen base, and scored on a ball over Robinson who was playing middle of the dirt and missed the ball by inches.
The Nats got the run back on a Ramos single who later scored on a Robinson single.
The game was decided in the bottom of the 7th on a leadoff walk by Danny Espinosa, a Clint Robinson single, 2 errors by the Pirates and then a 2 run blast by Michael Taylor for the final tally to make the final score 5-1.
The Nats improved to a season best 19 games over .500.
Not pinch hitting for Stras here is dumb. This could be the ballgame. #Nats
— Bob S (@Section222) July 16, 2016
Section222 brings up a good point, and we saw this backfire on Dusty in Chicago. It worked out here leaving Strasburg in to bat for himself in the 7th inning in a home game where Dusty could have pinch-hit for him, and had his relievers pitch the 8th and 9th innings. Strasburg was at 90 pitches at the time. It worked out, but it does not necessarily make it a wise move.
Earlier in the game, Strasburg did not get a bunt down and struck out. Did anyone hear Dusty discuss the strategy in allowing Strasburg to bat for himself in the 7th inning?
Dusty Baker announced after the game that Daniel Murphy tweaked his lefty hamstring on a slide in the All-Star game. This photo is interesting as Murphy extended his left leg on his Web Gem.
https://twitter.com/BBTN/status/754315435508584449
