Strasburg dominates as shutdown looms

WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg returned to dominant, strike-throwing form against St. Louis after struggling in his last start. According to his manager, the All-Star ace will have two more opportunities at being "vintage Strasburg" this season.

Strasburg allowed two hits over six scoreless innings, striking out nine before being pulled Sunday as the Washington Nationals beat the Cardinals 4-3.

The NL East-leading Nationals took three of four from St. Louis and passed their 80-win total from last season.

Strasburg, rocked for seven runs last Tuesday at Miami, left with a 2-0 lead and a 2.94 ERA. He threw 97 pitches and wound up with a no-decision.

"I think he had another inning in his tank, but I didn't want to run it up, maybe cost him a start," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "He was outstanding. . . . He was vintage Strasburg today."

The 23-year-old Strasburg has struck out a league-leading 195 in 156? innings this season. The Nationals have repeatedly stated they intend on shutting him down in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2010.

Johnson stuck with the party line after the win while providing a firmer timeline than the club has to date.

"I think two starts, unless I let him pitch 10 (innings) in the next one out, which I'm not going to do," Johnson said. "I think his last start will be on the 12th."

The Nationals play at the New York Mets on Sept. 12, not that Strasburg is thinking that far in advance. He is scheduled to face Miami at home on Sept. 7

"I'm just focused on the next start," Strasburg said. "We're going to have a sit down and talk here soon."

Braves 8, Phillies 7

In Atlanta, Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a five-run rally.

Reds 5, Astros 3

In Houston, Jay Bruce's three-run homer keyed Cincinnati's five-run eighth inning and the NL Central-leading Reds rallied past the Astros.

Giants 7, Cubs 5

In Chicago, Angel Pagan hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning and the NL West-leading Giants closed out a successful road trip by beating the Cubs.

Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4

In Los Angeles, Adrian Gonzalez doubled in the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Brewers 12, Pirates 8

In Milwaukee, Ryan Braun hit his NL-leading 37th home run, pitcher Yovani Gallardo also connected and the Brewers sent Pittsburgh to its 10th loss in 13 games.

Norichika Aoki was 1-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored.

Mets 5, Marlins 1

In Miami, Jason Bay hit his fifth career grand slam in the Mets' five-run first inning and New York earned a three-game sweep over the Marlins.

Rockies 11, Padres 10

In Denver, Chris Nelson had a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Rockies overcame a career-best six RBIs by Chase Headley.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Tigers 4, White Sox 2

In Detroit, Justin Verlander shut down Chicago after the first inning and Delmon Young hit a tiebreaking three-run homer to lift the Tigers to a share of first place in the AL Central.

Mariners 2, Angels 1

In Seattle, Jesus Montero hit another home run off Angels ace Jered Weaver, leading Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners past Los Angeles.

Iwakuma (6-3) threw 7? scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven.

Rangers 8, Indians 3

In Cleveland, Jurickson Profar made quite a debut at age 19, homering in his first major league at-bat and doubling his next time up.

Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre and David Murphy all hit solo home runs.

Athletics 6, Red Sox 2

In Oakland, Seth Smith hit a two-run homer, and the Athletics beat Boston for their season-best ninth straight win.

Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4) was tagged for six runs and seven hits in 3? innings.

Orioles 8, Yankees 3

In New York, Mark Reynolds hit a three-run shot in the sixth inning and Baltimore closed in on the AL East-leading Yankees.

Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-4 for New York.

Rays 9, Blue Jays 4

In Toronto, David Price earned his AL-leading 17th victory by pitching 6? solid innings.

Royals 6, Twins 4

In Kansas City, Tony Abreu drove in three runs and the Royals beat Minnesota to avoid a three-game sweep.

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Strasburg handcuffs Rays in 10-strikeout performance

WASHINGTON — Before the first pitch was thrown, Stephen Strasburg saw home plate umpire Jeff Nelson walked toward the mound and began preparing for a pine tar search.

Strikeout total climbs: Washington's Stephen Strasburg throws a pitch against Tampa Bay in the first inning on Wednesday. The Nationals beat the Rays 3-2. AP

"I thought he was going to check my glove," Strasburg said.

As it turned out, the ump only wanted to see the ball, which had bounced in the dirt on the throw to second following Strasburg's final warm-up toss. The Washington Nationals ace was free to work his usual magic, which on Wednesday consisted of 10 strikeouts over seven innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in a 3-2 win that stopped a four-game losing streak.

"We kind of had a laugh on the bench," Washington manager Davey Johnson said. "When the umpire came out, he wanted to look at the ball. Stras was getting ready to undress. . . . He was ready to take everything off and have them search him."

Pitchers on both sides were on extra alert one night after Rays reliever Joel Peralta was ejected for having pine tar in his glove, igniting a skirmish of words between Johnson and Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon that carried over into Wednesday.

But the game itself passed without incident, except for the widespread boos that greeted Peralta when he entered the game with one out in the eighth inning. Peralta is likely to be suspended by Major League Baseball, but he remains eligible to pitch while the league office examines his glove and continues its investigation. Using a different mitt, Peralta retired the two batters he faced without needing much encouragement from his manager.

"He was jacked up enough," Maddon said. "He didn't need me to say anything to him."

Strasburg (9-1) prevailed in a fastballer's duel with newbie Chris Archer to win his sixth consecutive start, allowing five hits and two runs while throwing 111 pitches. Tyler Clippard picked up his 10th save.

Diamondbacks 14, Mariners 10

In Phoenix, Ryan Roberts hit an inside-the-park home run, Justin Upton added a three-run shot and Arizona tied a franchise record with six homers during a wild win over Seattle.

Ichiro Suzuki finished 1-for-5 in the loss, while teammate Munenori Kawasaki was hitless in three at-bats. Mariners reliever Hisashi Iwakuma allowed a run in 1? innings.

Mets 4, Orioles 3

In New York, Dillon Gee extended the Mets' shutout streak to 29 innings before Baltimore broke through late, and New York held off the Orioles for a three-game sweep.

The Mets nearly shut out the Orioles for the third straight day, before Wilson Betemit hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Steve Pearce drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth.

Indians 8, Reds 1

In Cleveland, Justin Masterson pitched a three-hitter for his first complete game this season and the AL Central-leading Indians finished a three-game sweep of Cincinnati.

Masterson (4-6) took a shutout into the eighth before the Reds ended the right-hander's streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 18.

Cardinals 3, Tigers 1

In Detroit, Jake Westbrook pitched his first complete game in over two years, giving up only an unearned run in the Cardinals' victory over the Tigers.

Red Sox 15, Marlins 5

In Boston, David Ortiz hit a grand slam for one of the Red Sox's four homers as they set a season high in runs, beating the Marlins.

Mike Aviles, Jarod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks also homered.

Braves 10, Yankees 5

In New York, Jason Heyward hit two of a record nine homers at the new Yankee Stadium and Atlanta beat the Yankees.

Brewers 8, Blue Jays 3

In Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo pitched into the seventh inning and Ryan Braun hit one of the Brewers' four homers in a win over Toronto.

Royals 2, Astros 1

In Houston, Bruce Chen pitched into the sixth inning on three days' rest and Brayan Pena drove in a run.

Twins 2, Pirates 1

In Pittsburgh, Josh Willingham hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning for Minnesota.

White Sox 7, Cubs 0

In Chicago, Gavin Floyd pitched four-hit ball into the seventh, Gordon Beckham homered, and the struggling White Sox beat the Cubs to avoid a three-game sweep.

Athletics 4, Dodgers 1

In Oakland, Tommy Milone pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game and Yoenis Cespedes had two hits and an RBI in his return to the lineup as the Athletics won for the seventh time in eight games.

Angels 6, Giants 0

In Los Angeles, Jered Weaver pitched six innings of two-hit ball in his return from the disabled list and the Angels beat the Giants, handing Ryan Vogelsong his first loss in almost seven weeks.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 7, Rockies 6

In Philadelphia, Todd Helton missed tagging first base to allow the winning run to score on Placido Polanco's grounder in the ninth inning and the Phillies rallied to beat the Rockies.

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Nats' Strasburg beats Orioles with arm, bat

Express delivery: Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips forces out New York's Chris Stewart during the Reds' 5-2 win over the Yankees on Sunday. AP

WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg took a swing and looked in amazement as the baseball carried over the left-field wall.

If Strasburg's first major league homer came as a surprise, his performance on the mound did not. With Strasburg leading the way, the Washington Nationals beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 Sunday to avert a three-game sweep.

In addition to his 2-for-2 performance at the plate, Strasburg (4-1) struck out eight in five innings before being lifted by manager Davey Johnson, who said the pitcher mentioned tightness in his biceps.

"I don't care who it was, if I find out they have tightness, they're out," Johnson said. "I talked to him later in the game. He said it relaxed a bit and was a lot better. I'm not as concerned when it's in the biceps."

Strasburg sent an 0-2 pitch from Chen Wei-yin, the former Chunichi Dragon, into the Baltimore bullpen in the fourth inning to put the Nationals ahead 5-3. After dusting off his home run trot and returning to the dugout, he responded to a curtain call by waving to the crowd of 41,918.

"Shocking, that's for sure," Strasburg said of his clout. "I feel like in (batting practice) I have to swing a lot harder to hit it out. I just somehow ran into one."

Known more for his pitching than his hitting, Strasburg excelled at both. The right-hander allowed three runs, one earned, four hits and a walk in his first career appearance against Baltimore. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Tigers 4, Pirates 3

In Detroit, Max Scherzer struck out 15 — the most by a Tigers pitcher in 40 years — and the hosts rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to beat Pittsburgh.

Mickey Lolich had 15 Ks for Detroit in 1972 and set the club record of 16 in 1969.

Marlins 5, Indians 3

In Cleveland, Josh Johnson twice worked out of jams to earn his second straight win and help Miami win an interleague series against the Indians.

Red Sox 5, Phillies 1

In Philadelphia, Josh Beckett pitched 7? strong innings and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a three-run homer to lead Boston over the hosts.

Braves 2, Rays 0

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Tim Hudson scattered four hits over 7? innings and David Ross homered to lead Atlanta over Tampa Bay.

Brewers 16, Twins 4

In Milwaukee, Jonathan Lucroy homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, and Zack Greinke pitched six strong innings to lead the Brewers over Minnesota.

Milwaukee's Norichika Aoki had a pinch-hit single in the seventh and scored.

Padres 3, Angels 2 (13)

In San Diego, pitcher Clayton Richard scored the winning run from first base on an error with two outs in the 13th inning to lift the Padres over Los Angeles.

Rangers 6, Astros 1

In Houston, Colby Lewis allowed four hits in eight-plus innings and drove in two runs, and Texas took a five-run lead in the first inning before coasting to the win over the Astros.

Mets 6, Blue Jays 5

In Toronto, Mike Baxter had three hits and came within a home run of the cycle, and Dillon Gee won for the first time in four starts.

Reds 5, Yankees 2

In New York, Johnny Cueto pitched effectively into the eighth inning, Ryan Ludwick delivered two big hits and Cincinnati closed its extended trip to the Big Apple with a win.

Athletics 6, Giants 2

In San Francisco, Collin Cowgill drove in the go-ahead runs and scored in a home plate collision with pitcher Tim Lincecum as Oakland snapped an 11-game skid in San Francisco.

Mariners 6, Rockies 4

In Denver, Jesus Montero and Justin Smoak hit back-to-back home runs, Blake Beavan tied a season-high with seven strikeouts and Seattle beat Colorado to complete a three-game sweep.

The Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki hit a double, the 500th of his career, in four at-bats and scored once.

Diamondbacks 2, Royals 0

In Kansas City, Wade Miley pitched seven sharp innings and John McDonald drove in the first run with a bunt single to lead Arizona over the hosts.

White Sox 6, Cubs 0

In Chicago, Jake Peavy pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning and Adam Dunn hit his 14th homer to help the White Sox complete a three-game sweep of their crosstown rivals.

White Sox outfielder Kosuke Fukudome went 1-for-4 and is now batting .175.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Dodgers 6, Cardinals 5

In Los Angeles, pinch hitter Scott Van Slyke connected for his first major league homer, a go-ahead, three-run shot in the seventh inning against his father's former team, and the Dodgers rallied to beat St. Louis.

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Strasburg fans 13 in Nats win

PITTSBURGH — Maybe Davey Johnson should hold all his team meetings when Stephen Strasburg is pitching.

Bionic arm: Washington starter Stephen Strasburg fires a pitch against Pittsburgh in the third inning on Thursday night. Strasburg struck out 13 at the Nationals beat the Pirates 4-2. AP

The Washington Nationals' manager called a brief meeting to give his mildly slumping club a confidence boost and Strasburg responded with another brilliant performance to lift the Nationals to a 4-2 victory over the Pirates on Thursday.

"That's a good night to have a team meeting, isn't it?" Johnson said with a laugh.

Strasburg (3-0) struck out a season-high 13 as Washington snapped a three-game losing streak.

"When the stuff's working like tonight, you've got to go out there and just throw it, and it doesn't really matter what you throw," Strasburg said.

The performance was reminiscent of Strasburg's electric major league debut against the Pirates nearly two years ago. The former No. 1 pick struck out 14 over seven innings on June 8, 2010, to announce to the baseball world the hype was real.

An elbow injury cut short his rookie season and required reconstructive surgery that sidelined Strasburg for a year, and the Nationals have been careful about bringing their ace along slowly.

Maybe it's time to take the shackles off.

"He thinks he's not throwing hard but the ball's coming out of his hand real quick, and he's also got a good changeup and a good curveball," Johnson said. "I mean, he's nasty."

Strasburg (3-0) lowered his ERA to 1.64 by overpowering one of baseball's weaker lineups.

Strasburg cooled in the later innings, but he made a believer of Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle.

"That's a good arm with a kid with a head to work with it," Hurdle said. "The progress he's made in a very short period of time at this level is something."

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Indians 8, Red Sox 3

In Boston, embattled starter Josh Beckett did nothing to help restore his reputation by getting booed off the field at Fenway Park in the third inning.

Derek Lowe (5-1) pitched six effective innings against his former team, allowing two runs and nine hits.

Yankees 5, Rays 3

In New York, CC Sabathia outpitched David Price for the first time in six career matchups between the All-Star lefties.

The Yankees overcame a pair of early errors by third baseman Eduardo Nunez to take the series and send Tampa Bay to its fourth loss in five games.

Orioles 6, Rangers 5 (1st)

Rangers 7, Orioles 3 (2nd)

In Baltimore, Josh Hamilton hit his 15th homer, Derek Holland pitched six innings of four-hit ball and Texas beat the Orioles for a doubleheader split.

In the opener, Baltimore set an AL record by hitting home runs in their first three at-bats and launched five in all against Colby Lewis (3-2), who struck out a career-high 12. That made him the first pitcher since 1918 to give up five home runs and have at least 10 strikeouts in the same game.

Orioles starter Chen Wei-yin (3-0) gave up two runs in 7? innings.

Blue Jays 6, Twins 2

In Minneapolis, Henderson Alvarez pitched seven strong innings to win his third straight start.

Tigers 10, Athletics 6

In Oakland, Miguel Cabrera broke out of a slump with two RBI hits in Detroit's eight-run third inning.

Cabrera, who came into the game hitless in his previous 14 at-bats, finished with four hits, including an RBI double and a run-scoring single in the third.

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Strasburg prepared to return to work

NEW YORK — Stephen Strasburg is ready to start throwing off a mound, the next step in his recovery from reconstructive elbow surgery.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo says Strasburg was in Washington on Tuesday to be examined by the team's orthopedic surgeon. Rizzo says the routine checkup went very well and Strasburg is preparing to throw off a mound "any day now."

The 22-year-old pitching phenom had ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow Sept. 3 and it is expected to take 12-18 months for him to return to the majors. He has been throwing on flat ground as part of his rehabilitation program.

The top pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Strasburg had 14 strikeouts in his big league debut last June and went 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts. He struck out 92 batters in 68 innings.

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