DELIVERING IN CLUTCH
Stephen Strasburg continues his postseason magic, sets stage for winner-take-all Game 7
After a rough weekend at their home park, the Nationals showed up to Minute Maid Park with a lot of confidence Tuesday afternoon.
They were facing elimination in Game 6 of the World Series on the road against ace Justin Verlander, but they weren’t worried.
After all, the Nationals had won the first two games in the building.
On top of that, they had Stephen Strasburg starting.
The veteran pitcher has had his ups and downs over the years, but he’s been steady for the Nationals all season.
As good as he was in the regular season, he’s elevated that for the playoffs.
Now, thanks to him, the Nationals aren’t finished.
He threw 81⁄3 innings, struck out seven and led the Nationals to a 7-2 victory over the Astros.
Verlander had the chance to end the World Series on Tuesday night. Strasburg extended it instead.
Strasburg had only thrown four pitches when the Astros tied the game in the first inning. He’d give up an Alex Bregman solo home run in that inning as well, allowing the Astros to take a 2-1 lead.
After that, though, it was smooth sailing for the 31-yearold.
“We have Stephen Strasburg on the mound, who has been unbelievable for us this year,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Monday. “The guys feel good. We were talking last night after the press conference, and they’re all upbeat. This is way far from over.”
The series will now head to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park.
Taking care of business in the biggest start of his career was huge for Strasburg — the often quiet and understated pitcher.
He’s had a whirlwind of a career.
Strasburg had one of the biggest Major League debuts for any pitcher in league history. Everyone was itching to see the No. 1 draft pick who had signed a four-year, $15 million contract with the Nationals.
He was stellar in his debut in June 2010, striking out 14 in a victory over Pittsburgh. A couple of months later, though, Strasburg tore his UCL and required Tommy John surgery.
The next season, he was limited during his recovery, and while he played well in the regular season, the Nationals opted to shut him down for the postseason — a decision that is still criticized and always associated with Strasburg.
He was called injury-prone, and his worth was questioned.
But he just kept plugging away.
He’s pieced together an impressive career, and he can add another highlight to it now that he saved the Nationals season with a terrific outing in a mustwin game.
“Everything happens for a reason — the ups, the downs. It only makes you stronger mentally, and I think without those things, it would have been a lot harder to focus on what I can control out there,” Strasburg said.
He had clutch moments when the Astros looked like they might make their comeback. In the fifth inning when the Nationals led 3-2, the Astros had runners on second and third with one out.
Strasburg fanned Jose Altuve, often the hero for the Astros, sucking the air out of a ballpark full of people expecting the Astros to take over.
Michael Brantley, who has been one of the Astros’ most consistent hitters all season, was up next. He grounded out on a fastball.
Strasburg kept it coming, too. The Nationals didn’t have to turn to their bullpen until the ninth inning, because he had the game under control. Considering that they had starter Max Scherzer in the bullpen at one point (who they will need in Game 7), it was huge that he could pitch so long.
He threw 104 pitches. Sixtyfive were strikes.
“I gave it everything I had,” Strasburg said, then gave a slight grin. “I’m pretty tired.”
Strasburg has been solid throughout the playoffs, posting a 5-0 record and 35 strikeouts.
His first win of the postseason came when he came out of the bullpen in the wild card game. In Game 5 of the NLDS against the favored Dodgers, Strasburg gave up three early runs, but recovered, settled down and threw four scoreless innings in the win.
His stellar postseason comes after a solid regular season.
He went 18-6, pitched 209 innings and logged 251 strikeouts.
“I saw an incredible pitcher,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He was really good … he has an uncanny ability to slow the game down when he’s under any duress. We didn’t put a lot of stress on him. But the times that we did in the fifth and in the lead-off single in the sixth, he kind of backs it down a little bit, throws the secondary pitches for strikes, he locates pitches. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes.
“I thought he — credit to him bouncing back from the first inning. It was almost like just exactly how the last game went where they score, we score, and all of a sudden he settled in and was very dominant. He’s got a slow heartbeat out there.”
Needless to say, Strasburg has shown he can handle the pressure and can stay healthy enough to carry the Nationals — the way they hoped he would when they drafted him a decade ago.
In the biggest game of the year, it all worked out for him.
Strasburg has two World Series wins. And thanks to him, his team has a shot to win it all.