Wednesday, June 09, 2010
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1
WASHINGTON -- It was all just a blur.
As fast as Washington's super-prospect Stephen Strasburg threw all his pitches, as fast as he reloaded upon getting the ball back from the catcher and, hey, as fast as he stormed onto the Major League Baseball scene as a 21-year-old making his nationally, breathlessly anticipated debut ... well, that was how fast he set down the Pirates, 5-2, Tuesday night at Nationals Park.
Greg Fiume/Getty Images
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitches in the third inning at Nationals Park in Washington Tuesday.
Try 14 strikeouts.
In 24 batters.
Including the final seven.
Everyone in the order, at least once.
With a fastball averaging 99 mph, once touching 101.
With a knee-buckling curve.
With a changeup registering 91 mph, or about 3 mph faster than the fastball of the Pirates' Jeff Karstens.
"It was nasty, all of it, everything he did," shortstop Ronny Cedeno said after striking out on a changeup and a 99-mph fastball. "That kid is going to be the best pitcher in the National League."
Sure, Delwyn Young tagged Strasburg for a two-run home run that briefly brought a 2-1 lead and somewhat silenced the otherwise electric setting, and the Pirates did manage four hits over his seven innings, including Andy LaRoche somehow lining a 100-mph pitch for a single to right.
But still ... it had the feel of living, breathing baseball history.
"The results speak for themselves," manager John Russell said. "He was dominating at times."
That was hard to tell from Strasburg's perpetually cool reaction, even after the obligatory shaving-cream pie to the face from Washington teammates Nyjer Morgan and John Lannan.
"They just kept telling me to soak it all in, good or bad, you only get one debut," Strasburg said of his teammates. "It was a tremendous experience, especially in front of a packed crowd like this."
It did not appear Strasburg was terribly comfortable in throwing a bit wildly to Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, his first two batters, but he was adamant that was not the case.
"I definitely wasn't nervous. I just remember the adrenaline flowing at 2 o'clock. I was just really trying to calm down and really take things easy and just soak it all in. I was able to make adjustments and keep the team in the game."
The game drew an overflow crowd of 40,315 overflowing with enthusiasm for Strasburg's every move, from the first warmup toss to his first strikeout, of Lastings Milledge over a biting curve in the first inning. It also drew hundreds of media members, national television and many other elements that the Pirates' franchise had not seen first-hand since, really, Sid Bream's slide.
The players mostly seemed to enjoy the setting beforehand, with Young playfully shouting to no one in particular in the clubhouse, "Never seen people so excited to see the Pirates in town!" As he spoke, Bob Costas, doing play-by-play for MLB Network, walked by.
The previous day, Young had summed up the team's general ho-hum sentiment toward the matchup by calling Strasburg "just another pitcher," but it was immensely clear Tuesday that was not the case.
"If you tried to sit on the heat, he'd throw that curve," Walker said after getting one of those hits. "He's hittable, but you've got to stay within yourself. And it's not easy."
"The thing that was the most impressive was the curve, the way he commanded that for early strikes," Milledge said. "He's a much different pitcher than anybody I've faced."
Karstens gave up a solo home run to Ryan Zimmerman in the first, but the Pirates took that 2-1 lead in the fourth: Walker and Milledge opened with singles and, after Garrett Jones bounced into a double play, Young reached out to pull a 90-mph changeup over the outer half, sending it above the tall wall in right.
It was Young's third home run, second in three games.
How did he do it?
"To tell you the truth, I think it was a changeup," Young said, as unsure as many others when trying to identify Strasburg's repertoire. "Just hit the sweet part of the bat."
And what did Young think of the pitcher?
"He's got a chance to be good," Young replied, still shrugging a day later. "You can see his pitches coming, which is good, and you eventually learn some of the action. This is the first time anyone's seen him. Other teams will see what we saw and make adjustments from there."
Milledge saved a run in the fourth when he caught a liner, then nailed a runner trying to tag from third with a strike to catcher Jason Jaramillo to end the inning.
But there was no sparing Karstens in the sixth, when Zimmerman singled, and Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham followed with back-to-back home runs to put the Nationals ahead for good, 4-2.
Karstens had breezed through five -- just 59 pitches -- but he elevated a fastball to Dunn, hung a slider to Willingham.
"Just one of those days," Karstens said. "DY did a good job keeping his hands back on Strasburg's changeup, but it was going to be tough to score."
"I thought Jeff did a good job," Russell said.
Washington closer Matt Capps, facing his former team for the first time, recorded his 19th save, most in the majors.
Dejan Kovacevic: dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.
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