Strasburg, crowd return to form in win over O's (updated)

You want a return to normalcy? How about Stephen Strasburg on the mound posting a string of zeros, an opportunistic lineup finally delivering a string of clutch hits and (most importantly) a loud and enthusiastic crowd cheering the home team on a beautiful Friday night on South Capitol Street.

The Nationals' 4-2 win over the Orioles tonight felt as normal as things have been around here for some time. With Strasburg returning from 5 1/2 weeks on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in front of an expanded crowd of 14,369 that was allowed inside Nationals Park, this looked and sounded like the good old days.

"It was awesome," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "It was a great atmosphere. Hopefully, it will continue to open up for us, and we can continue to get more fans in here. But what a great night. The fans come back, we play well and we get a curly W."

There's a long way still to go, for Strasburg, for the 18-23 Nats and for the fans, who won't be allowed to pack the park entirely for three more weeks. But on this 82-degree late-May evening, there was nothing to complain about (aside from another ninth-inning homer surrendered by slumping closer Brad Hand, though this one didn't cost his team the game).

The return of a star pitcher from the IL is always going to produce a little extra buzz in the stands, but all the more so when the stands are filled to a volume unpermitted for the last 19 months. With capacity increased to 36 percent for this homestand, Nationals Park looked and sounded as good as it had since Game 5 of the 2019 World Series, the last time this many fans had been allowed in the park at the same time.

They cheered for Strasburg when his name was announced in the lineup. They applauded when he jogged to the mound to the familiar strains of "Seven Nation Army." And they approved when he strolled back to the dugout following a nine-pitch, 1-2-3 top of the first.

"I think not having it for so long, you kind of take it for granted," Strasburg said. "You really rely on that. You get the fans into the game, and it gives you that extra boost. The atmosphere changes so much, and I think we really appreciate it as players."

The fans were fully behind Strasburg during his first four remarkably easy innings, during which he faced one more than the minimum and needed only 43 pitches. With his fastball sitting at 93-94 mph, he wasn't recording a lot of swings and misses, but he did induce a lot of weak contact from an Orioles lineup that didn't put up much fight.

"He pitched tonight," Martinez said. "He used all his pitches effectively. His fastball topped out at 94, which is good, and his changeup and curveball were exceptional as well. I thought he did really, really well for his first day back. Now we just got to build him up and keep him healthy."

With that in mind, the top of the fifth looked entirely different for Strasburg from the previous four. He was still effective, but he issued two of his four walks, saw his velocity drop 1-2 mph and struggled to locate the way he did earlier. He ended the inning with a strikeout of the opposing pitcher, Jorge López, and though his pitch count was a mere 62, it didn't feel inappropriate to question if he should be allowed to return for the sixth.

"I'd say I ran out of gas a little bit there at the end," he admitted.

But as the Nationals came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth, Kyle Finnegan was only stretching in the bullpen, not throwing. The righty would eventually begin warming up, at which point the Nats had taken the lead, thanks to a sudden string of two-out hits.

Stymied all night to that point by López, going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, the Nationals broke through with two outs in the fifth. Back-to-back doubles by Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber produced the first run, then Josh Harrison followed Starlin Castro's infield single with a liner to right-center to bring home the second run and bring a roar from the crowd.

"After that inning, J-Hay came over to me in the infield and was like: 'Dude, we did all that with two outs. That was sick,'" Bell said. "Yeah, that's what we need to do: Starting two-out rallies, not getting too down on ourselves when we don't come through in the clutch. Keep the spirits up and know it doesn't matter if there's one out, two outs, no outs. When we get going and we're right, we can put runs on the board. That's what we need to do."

By the time the Nationals had recorded their fourth straight two-out hit of the inning, Finnegan did have enough time to get warm, but he remained in the bullpen as Strasburg re-took the mound to at least begin the sixth. He didn't remain out there for long, retiring Cedric Mullins on a fly ball but then walking Austin Hays on his 72nd pitch.

That's as far as Martinez was willing to let his returning starter go. He came to the mound to take the ball from Strasburg, who retreated to a standing ovation from the crowd for the first time in two years.

"We were looking out there, and we could tell he's getting a little tired," Martinez said. "He started losing his legs. For me, that's a tell that he's had enough. It's the first time he's gone that long in a while. So regardless of the pitches, it's the up-and-downs that really get you. I felt that was perfect for what we needed. He did a great job."

The Nationals' work wasn't done yet, though. Finnegan was now facing the tying run in the form of Trey Mancini, and when Baltimore's No. 3 hitter sent a line drive into the right field corner, the crowd gasped. But then, some good fortune and some heads-up defensive play.

Juan Soto's throw from deep right field sailed over Harrison, the cutoff man, prompting Hays to try to score. Enter Bell, who backed up the play properly, scooped up the errant throw and then on the run bounced the ball to the plate, where Yan Gomes made a nice pick and tag to nail Hays and produce maybe the biggest roar of the night.

"I didn't even see the runner going," said Bell, who admitted he had never made that play before in his career. "It was more like the crowd kind of told me that he was going. Everyone was like: 'Ahhhhh!' So I heard that, I looked home. Yan was right there ready to go, and I made the play."

The Nationals would go on to score two more insurance runs, getting seven two-out hits in the final four innings. And that would prove to be important, because after Finnegan, Wander Suero and Daniel Hudson kept the shutout intact through the eighth, Hand served up a two-run homer to Freddy Galvis with two outs in the ninth to leave the crowd restless.

No worries. Trea Turner made a nice play on Maikel Franco's grounder to the hole at short for the final out, to ensure Strasburg would get the win and the largest crowd of the season would go home happy.

Even if everyone understood this remains far from a finished product.

"I feel like I've done this enough time where, yeah, the results are always great, but I think from an execution standpoint, there's definitely some room for improvement," Strasburg said. "I think it was a step in the right direction. But again, I think there's still some work to be done. It's still only May, and I feel good coming out of the start. So just kind of take what I can from it, and get ready for the next one."