A focused and aggressive Strasburg gets back on track (Davis note)

SAN DIEGO - There has never been a question about the quality of Stephen Strasburg's pitching repertoire or his stuff. He features a blazing fastball in the high 90s that darts around the plate, usually backed up by sharp breaking ball. What has seemed to frustrate those around the Nationals organization lately with Strasburg has been his mental approach on the mound, especially with runners on base.

Adversity faced Strasburg right away in the first inning on Sunday. He had just thrown a filthy third-strike curveball to Padres center fielder Abraham Almonte to begin the game with back-to-back strikeouts. But the ball skipped away from Nats catcher Jose Lobaton, allowing Almonte to reach first base safely on the wild pitch. Almonte quickly took advantage of the opportunity by stealing second.

Then, with right fielder Matt Kemp at the plate, Almonte took off again. Kemp smoked a grounder up the middle that Danny Espinosa made a brilliant diving stop on. But by the time Espinosa hopped to his feet, Almonte had already broken for the plate, safely beating the throw.

The Padres scored a run against Strasburg without the ball ever leaving the infield. Strasburg then walked left fielder Justin Upton, leading some to wonder if he was ready to follow the same confusing pattern that led to an uncharacteristic 6.06 ERA before his eighth start this season. But Strasburg remained focused, rearing back for a 97 mph fastball to strike out catcher Derek Norris to close the inning.

"I think it's a step in the right direction," Strasburg said. "It's just something I'm working through right now. It's progress, so I can't be mad about that."

Strasburg had not pitched out of the fourth inning in either of his past two starts while allowing a combined 10 runs. On Sunday, the right-hander made it five innings, surrendering three runs on five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Nationals manager Matt Williams noticed a difference in Strasburg's style on the mound.

"I think it's just his aggressiveness," Williams said. "He was throwing his fastball where he wanted to and that allows him to get ahead in the count. Then he can use his other stuff if he wants to. He was really aggressive early with his heater, which is a good sign."

"Much better than last time out, for sure, and something to build on."

Trailing by two in the fifth, Espinosa helped Strasburg with a three-run homer to give the Nats the lead. Espinosa is plenty familiar with Strasburg. Besides being teammates for the past six seasons, the two squared off several times in college when Strasburg was at San Diego State and Espinosa played at Long Beach State.

"He looked a little more comfortable," Espinosa said. "He was throwing the ball well. Throwing hard, getting strikes and swings and misses. I thought he looked real good. Hopefully use this start and build on it and keep going."

Two innings after Espinosa's bomb, Bryce Harper went yard with another three-run homer to light up the scoreboard with a 10-spot for the Nats and assure that Strasburg would walk away with his third win of the season after the toughest stretch of his career.

"He was 97, 98 (mph). Had his curveball, his changeup. I think he threw his fastball a little bit more," Harper said. "When you throw 97 with that much sink like he does, it's pretty tough. To be able to see what he did today was a lot of fun. Our pitchers, one through five, are pretty tough to face. To have him do that was pretty fun."

Lobaton's simple message to Strasburg may have been exactly what was needed to get the righty out of his funk.

"I told him, 'Just go after it. Like whatever happens ... what are you gonna do? You just gotta pitch. So throw the ball. Just throw the ball. Try to just see the glove and throw it.' And he did it," Lobaton said.

Note: The Nationals have returned right-hander Erik Davis from his minor league rehabilitation assignment and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Davis, who has been recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in April 2014, has appeared in four games split between high Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg, posting a 1.69 ERA over 5 1/3 innings.