Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
Stephen Strasburg went 7 2/3 scoreless innings and dominated in the first 4 2/3 innings where Stras was perfect. He had a 2-hitter for his outing and was pulled after walking 2 batters in the 8th inning. Strasburg finishes his season with a 2.52 ERA. The bullpen took over and allowed one-run for the final of 6-to-1 win for the team’s 97th of the season.
It was a historic night for Ryan Zimmerman going 4-for-4 with 4 XBH which was comprised of a hustle double, an RBI smashed double, a CF homer for Zim’s 250th career home run, and the Z-man’s second home run on the evening was his 36th HR in the evening which matched his entire annual HR production from the prior 3 year span (2014-2016).
Strasburg moved into the lead on the Nats pitching staff with his 2.52 ERA however Max Scherzer could grab back the triumvirate crown with his start on Saturday.
With any luck, Scherzer will get at least a 4-to-0 lead in his start. The Nationals scored 3-runs for Stras off of Zim’s bat and one from Daniel Murphy scoring Trea Turner who was 2-for-3 with a walk and had reached safely in 9 consecutive at-bats prior to finally finishing his night with a strikeout. In the 8th inning, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth went back-to-back with home runs to make the score 6-to-0 at the time.
Tonight’s win was the 97th of the season with 2 games remaining. The Nationals record was set in 2012 with 98 wins in that season under the management of Davey Johnson. Dusty Baker could tie the Nats franchise record tonight, and surpass it tomorrow.
