Williams short and sweet after Nats' 2-1 victory

By Pete Kerzel

Nationals

March 15, 2014, 12:44pm

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JUPITER, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams' postgame comments after a 2-1 victory over the Marlins were short and sweet. But that's what you get when two staff aces face off and the game takes only 2:45, which is pretty quick by spring training standards. Did Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg look like he was in midseason form? "He was good. It was a good matchup today. ... Those two guys going at it. We were able to scratch one and give him a little bit of room. Pitched well - slider, fastball, good mid-90s fastball. Everything was good." How did Strasburg do at holding runners on? "Great. He was varying his looks over there. He was throwing over, holding the ball (and) throwing over. All of it was good." Do you see the wheels turning when Strasburg has to pitch out the stretch? "No, he's got a routine that he's doing now, so he's thinking about it, but he's letting the ball go and throwing strikes. The indicator there is if he's not throwing strikes." How did Ryan Zimmerman come out of the game, his first action since Monday? "He's good. We're going to do some early grounders tomorrow and be sure, and he's scheduled to be in the lineup. We'll see how it goes. All indications are good." Williams needed only 56 seconds to field all the questions thrown his way. But when you've got a two-hour drive ahead of you, I guess the brevity is appreciated on both sides of the reporter/manager relationship.