Nats wrap up Grapefruit League with a gem from Strasburg

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If the goal was to end the spring on a high note, to break camp under the warm Florida sunshine feeling good about things before heading north into the still-thawing-out D.C. area, the Nationals sent the right guy to the mound today.

Stephen Strasburg, facing the Cardinals' regular lineup, was dominant for 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10 and building up his pitch count to 96 during the Nats' 4-2 victory in their Grapefruit League finale.

"He was good, really good," manager Davey Martinez said. "He was impressive. Good outing for him. He's ready to go."

It's hard to dispute that, based on what Strasburg did this afternoon at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Though he allowed two runs, he struck out five batters in a row at one point and overwhelmed several of St. Louis' most accomplished hitters. (He struck out Yadier Molina three times.)

"Everything was working pretty well," said Strasburg, a notorious perfectionist who at times can find flaws even after some of his best starts.

Strasburg's gem came on the heels of his worst outing of the spring, one in which he allowed 11 Marlins batters to reach base in only 4 1/3 innings. He heads north having made four Grapefruit League starts, totaling 15 1/3 innings with 19 strikeouts to his name.

Next up: a start in the season's second game, Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati.

"My arm's felt really good all spring, and I think it's just a matter of reps and just continuing the process," the right-hander said. "Everything seems to tighten up every time I go out there. That's all I can ask for."

The Nationals also got effective work from four relievers after Strasburg departed. Tim Collins (who was reassigned to minor league camp Saturday, but is remaining with the major league club through Tuesday) finished off the sixth with a strikeout. Enny Romero, Ryan Madson and Trevor Gott each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game, with Romero and Gott in particular trying to make a final case for inclusion in the opening day bullpen.

That's the only thing the organization still needs to decide before opening day: whether to keep an eighth reliever or a fifth bench player. Martinez suggested some hard decisions were on the docket for later today.

"It's going to be an interesting plane flight," he said. "We're going to discuss some things on the plane about guys and what we want to do."