Williams on Strasburg's health and more after 9-2 win over Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - The Giants have been red-hot lately. The Nationals cooled them off a bit tonight.

The Nats pounded out eight extra-base hits, plated nine runs and handed the Giants their most lopsided defeat of the season in a 9-2 loss.

The nine runs the Nats scored were the most the Giants have allowed this season. Ian Desmond drove in a career-high five runs, Denard Span had two doubles and a triple, and Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos also added two hits each in the Nats' eighth win in their last 10 games.

Stephen Strasburg delivered another quality start, the 10th in a row by a Nats starting pitcher, going six innings and allowing just a run. He developed some lower back stiffness during his outing, according to manager Matt Williams, but the Nats aren't concerned about Strasburg's health going forward.

Here's more from Williams after the win:

On Strasburg: "He continues to pitch well. Little bit of back stiffness tonight, so that's why he came out. Just continues to throw strikes. And against a really good hitting team, they're swinging good, today he used his changeup and his curveball effectively. He was good."

On if the back issue started tonight: "Yeah, just the start tonight. About the third inning he started to experience it. Once we tacked on a couple more there late, we decided to get him out of there. Not push it."

On if Strasburg could have kept going if the game was closer: "He could've, yeah. But it's just a question of making sure that he's got some treatment on it and is good for his next one. ... We have Det (Ross Detwiler) fresh in the bullpen and he can go long for us if need be. I just didn't want to push him too much."

On the offensive explosion: "Well, I think Denard set the tone for us. He's swinging good. Desi had a great game. Zim (Ryan Zimmerman) didn't get a lot out of it, but he swung the bat really well. I think that's an example of what they can do. Certainly not gonna go like that every day, but today was a good offensive night and Stras pitched really well."

On how Zimmerman is doing after he came up limping in the seventh inning: "He's good. The ball hit him in the Achilles. I thought he twisted his ankle, but the ball just hit him. He's good."

On Desmond's hot steak of late: "Tonight, the best thing I saw tonight was the single up the middle. Low and hard back through the middle. That's what he's been working on - he's been working on staying on the ball a little better. Just missed a homer tonight. Hit a couple in San Diego and those were all to the middle of the diamond. So if he can continue to do that, it just keeps him on the baseball, and he can have nights like tonight. He's strong, he's agile. All of those things combined, he can do a lot of things."