Strasburg, Desmond and Williams on Nats' loss to Rockies
By Josh Land
The Nationals were unable to finish off a season sweep of the Rockies on Wednesday, seeing a ninth-inning rally fall short in a 6-4 loss.
Instead, Washington had to settle for finishing 5-1 against Colorado as the club heads to Cincinnati for the second leg of a three-city road trip.
"Just we gave ourselves a chance again. That's the nature of this ballpark, but then again, it's some pretty good at-bats put together against their closer in the last inning," manager Matt Williams said. "So that's encouraging.
"Aaron (Barrett) got in some trouble walking the leadoff guy and then the double (in the seventh). (Stephen Strasburg) was good outside of the first inning. He got beat with a couple of curveballs early, but then he settled in nice and he got through it. He made a really nice pitch to get out of the inning with the double-play ball later and with the exception of the first inning, he was pretty good."
Strasburg (7-8) absorbed the loss after allowing exactly four runs for the second straight start. He surrendered nine hits, walked three and struck out five in lasting just 5 1/3 innings.
Perhaps it was a challenge pitching in the thin Denver air.
"It's an adjustment here. The game goes on, the better idea of where it's going to go," Strasburg said. "It's just not trying to throw hard. I think you really just have to treat it as a pitch that you're not necessarily trying to get a swing and miss, or not trying to make them buckle. You just need to execute the ball down in the zone. Not make a mistake with it."
The right-hander did well after permitting three runs in the first, holding the Rockies to one run over his last 4 1/3 innings.
"You give up three runs early and I could have shut it down, but I didn't want to do that," Strasburg said. "I wanted to keep it as close as possible, give the guys a chance to come back. I mean anything could happen here."
Said Williams: "The first inning, well, they were curveballs. He got a better feel for it, was able to throw it early in the count and as he went through the game, changeup got a little bit better, fastball command got a little bit better. The curveball got him in the first inning."
The Nats could never take the lead after falling behind 3-1. They pulled to within one run in the fifth and then halved a four-run deficit with two in the ninth.
But Colorado closer LaTroy Hawkins struck out Ian Desmond to strand the bases loaded in the ninth, leaving the go-ahead run on first base.
"That's obviously what I want. I was in the at-bat. I was happy with where I was at, but you got to tip your cap sometimes," Desmond said of the last at-bat. "He did a good job. He made some good pitches."
The Nats did manage to put some pressure on Hawkins and the Rockies, however.
"Yeah, we knew that coming in and they know that as well. We did a good job battling back right there," Desmond said. "Given some circumstances - the weather for a minute there - we kept on grinding away. I'll take us in that situation a lot of times."
The teams played through some strange windy, rainy conditions in the late innings before it cleared up for the finish.
"It doesn't make it tougher, it's just kind of distracting to keep your focus," Desmond said. "We've all played in stuff like that. It doesn't make it easier."
Desmond was impressed with the way Strasburg answered early adversity to give the Nats a chance to come back in the middle innings.
"He's been able to do that for a while now," Desmond said. "I think early on in his career, he would lose his way, but the last year and a half - coming down the stretch last year and all this year - he's been really good at getting it together. He did a good job."
Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa did a nice job against the Nats, limiting them to two runs (one earned) on eight hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out 11 and walked none.
"He's got a power arm. He's a power lefty. He can get the ball to 93, 94," Desmond said. "He's got a great cutter and mix in the changeup and curveball. If he's in the zone and keeps his composure, he's a really, really good pitcher. He showed that today."
Said Williams: "He knows how to pitch here. He has a surprising fastball when he needs it, but he relies on his changeup a lot. And that's a great strategy here. He's got the ability to throw it for a strike when he needs to and off the zone when he needs to. I've seen that a number of times, unfortunately. But he's a good pitcher. He pitches well."
Strasburg (7-8) absorbed the loss after allowing exactly four runs for the second straight start. He surrendered nine hits, walked three and struck out five in lasting just 5 1/3 innings.
Perhaps it was a challenge pitching in the thin Denver air.
"It's an adjustment here. The game goes on, the better idea of where it's going to go," Strasburg said. "It's just not trying to throw hard. I think you really just have to treat it as a pitch that you're not necessarily trying to get a swing and miss, or not trying to make them buckle. You just need to execute the ball down in the zone. Not make a mistake with it."
The right-hander did well after permitting three runs in the first, holding the Rockies to one run over his last 4 1/3 innings.
"You give up three runs early and I could have shut it down, but I didn't want to do that," Strasburg said. "I wanted to keep it as close as possible, give the guys a chance to come back. I mean anything could happen here."
Said Williams: "The first inning, well, they were curveballs. He got a better feel for it, was able to throw it early in the count and as he went through the game, changeup got a little bit better, fastball command got a little bit better. The curveball got him in the first inning."
The Nats could never take the lead after falling behind 3-1. They pulled to within one run in the fifth and then halved a four-run deficit with two in the ninth.
But Colorado closer LaTroy Hawkins struck out Ian Desmond to strand the bases loaded in the ninth, leaving the go-ahead run on first base.
"That's obviously what I want. I was in the at-bat. I was happy with where I was at, but you got to tip your cap sometimes," Desmond said of the last at-bat. "He did a good job. He made some good pitches."
The Nats did manage to put some pressure on Hawkins and the Rockies, however.
"Yeah, we knew that coming in and they know that as well. We did a good job battling back right there," Desmond said. "Given some circumstances - the weather for a minute there - we kept on grinding away. I'll take us in that situation a lot of times."
The teams played through some strange windy, rainy conditions in the late innings before it cleared up for the finish.
"It doesn't make it tougher, it's just kind of distracting to keep your focus," Desmond said. "We've all played in stuff like that. It doesn't make it easier."
Desmond was impressed with the way Strasburg answered early adversity to give the Nats a chance to come back in the middle innings.
"He's been able to do that for a while now," Desmond said. "I think early on in his career, he would lose his way, but the last year and a half - coming down the stretch last year and all this year - he's been really good at getting it together. He did a good job."
Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa did a nice job against the Nats, limiting them to two runs (one earned) on eight hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out 11 and walked none.
"He's got a power arm. He's a power lefty. He can get the ball to 93, 94," Desmond said. "He's got a great cutter and mix in the changeup and curveball. If he's in the zone and keeps his composure, he's a really, really good pitcher. He showed that today."
Said Williams: "He knows how to pitch here. He has a surprising fastball when he needs it, but he relies on his changeup a lot. And that's a great strategy here. He's got the ability to throw it for a strike when he needs to and off the zone when he needs to. I've seen that a number of times, unfortunately. But he's a good pitcher. He pitches well."
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