Stephen Strasburg's season interrupted by injury again

If ever there was a day for Stephen Strasburg to re-establish himself as one of the game's premier pitchers, it was today. Strasburg took the mound and faced World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner in front of his critics on the Fourth of July.

Michael A. Taylor and Bryce Harper slugged first-inning homers to the give Strasburg and the Nationals an early 3-0 lead against the Giants ace. But in the fourth, an injury once again interrupted one of Strasburg's starts.

Matt Duffy grounded out to start the inning against Strasburg. Then Strasburg pumped a 97 mph fastball to Buster Posey which the catcher bounced to Danny Espinosa, who threw to Clint Robinson for an easy out. That was the end of Strasburg's afternoon. Nationals manager Matt Williams, pitching coach Steve McCatty and head trainer Lee Kuntz emerged from the dugout to check on Strasburg, who left after a brief discussion with tightness in his left side.

"I don't really have an explanation," Strasburg said. "Everything felt good and then just threw a pitch to Posey there. He grounded out and just felt it grab."

It was certainly a disappointing result for Strasburg. Up to that point, the right-hander had limited the Giants to just one hit with two walks while striking out three.

"I was commanding the fastball really well today ... especially the last couple outings," Strasburg said. "Making good strides. Sometimes you don't have an explanation for what happens."

Strasburg made a case to Williams to remain in the game after experiencing the discomfort.

"I wanted to at least get through the inning and see if we could do something about it, but with how it feels now, I think it was the right move," Strasburg said after the game, indicating that his side remained tight after a few rounds of ice.

For Williams, the decision to remove Strasburg was a no-brainer.

"Given his season so far, we're not gonna take a chance there," he said.

It's the third time this season that an injury has cut one of Strasburg's starts short. A back alignment issue forced Strasburg out after three innings against the Marlins on May 5. Strasburg then landed on the 15-day disabled list on May 30, a day after a strained left trapezius muscle ended his outing after only 16 pitches in Cincinnati.

Strasburg returned from the DL proclaiming that he hadn't felt this healthy since spring training. It showed in his last two starts, both wins, where Strasburg only allowed two runs on eight hits with two walks and 15 strikeouts over 12 innings.

"He's been throwing well the past three outings he's had," Harper said. "I think going into those four innings, he was absolutely carving. Definitely not fun to see Stras come out of the game throwing 97-98 mph and carving."

While Williams waited on the mound for Tanner Roark to make his way from the bullpen, Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos told their manager how impressive Strasburg looked in his abbreviated effort today.

"The best they've seen him all year," Williams said.

Roark gave Williams another stellar relief performance, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

After the game, Roark's thoughts were with Strasburg on his injury battle.

"It's definitely a heartbreaker," Roark said. "He's one that works really, really hard and he prides himself at being a starting pitcher. It's just one of those things, a freak accident. Hopefully he'll get healthy and get back out here."

With an off-day coming on Thursday and the All-Star break following next weekend's series in Baltimore, it's possible that Williams could skip Strasburg in the rotation without issue if needed. For now, Williams said the first step was to see how Strasburg feels when he arrives at the ballpark tomorrow and meets with the team doctor.

"We need that guy in the rotation throwing like that," Ramos said. "He was amazing. Hopefully he comes back soon."

Roark ended up with the win as the Nationals pounded Bumgarner for six runs in the 9-3 victory.