Stephen Strasburg Makes His Debut
Stephen Strasburg Makes His Debut – There hasn’t been much to cheer about in Washington baseball since the days of Walter Johnson, but that seems like it’s about to change. Strasburg gave his eager fans plenty to be happy about during his remarkable – and remarkably-hyped – debut, striking out a team-record 14 Pirates and allowing only two runs and four hits in seven sparkling innings. He chalked up the most strikeouts in a major league debut since J.R. Richard fanned 15 for Houston in 1971.
Strasburg’s fastball reached 100 mph and stayed at 99 most of the night, and the Nats got homers from Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham in a 5-2 victory. Look out, Mets, your NL East division counterparts have lightning in their starting rotation now.
The 21-year-old Strasburg struck out the final seven batters he faced, matching a Nats record. He struck out the side in the seventh on only 13 pitches, blazing a 99-mph heater past a swinging Andy LaRoche on his final pitch of the night while fans chanted “Let’s go, Stras-burg.” Amazingly, Strasburg did not walk a batter and threw 65 of his 94 pitches for strikes.
Tags: Adam Dunn, Andy Laroche, Batters, Counterparts, Eager Fans, Fastball, Homers, Josh Willingham, League Debut, Major League, Mets, Nats, Nl East, pirates, Pitch, Pitches, Ryan Zimmerman, Strasburg, Strikes, Walter Johnson
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