Strasburg, Desmond are experiencing resurgences

The Nationals' season-high eight-game winning streak came to an end with Sunday night's 8-5 loss to the Phillies in the series finale. Despite the setback, the Nationals head to Atlanta experiencing the potential resurgence of two key players: right-hander Stephen Strasburg and shortstop Ian Desmond.

Strasburg pitched brilliantly in yesterday's 3-2 win over Philadelphia in the first game of the doubleheader. The 26-year-old gave up just two runs on only four hits while striking out a season-high nine batters to earn back-to-back victories for the first time this year.

"He looks really good," said Desmond, who has played behind Strasburg for six years. "He looks like he's in control of his body and in control of the ball. He looks like he's really got a plan out there and he's sticking with it. A lot of times, we see him not get off track, but kinda lose focus of what he wants to do, and the last two outings, he's really been dominating his game plan and not necessarily worrying about what the hitters are doing, and that's a big part of pitching."

Strasburg had only made it to the seventh inning in one of his 11 starts this year, with four ending before the fifth frame. On Sunday, the talented right-hander endured through a season-high 113 pitches over seven innings.

"It's important," said Nationals manager Matt Williams. "It's important for him to stretch it. We knew that going in. So, yeah, I thought it was important for our whole team for him to get deep in the game for us, and he provided that."

It was Strasburg's second win in as many starts since coming off the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. He was sidelined with a left trapezius muscle strain that abruptly halted a May 29 start, but there had been a series of nagging injuries, including the lingering effects of sprained left ankle, that bothered Strasburg throughout his first 10 outings of the season.

The result was a disappointing 3-5 record with a 6.55 ERA that made you double-take. Strasburg's rocky two months were especially puzzling since the former 2009 No. 1 overall pick was coming off a 2014 campaign where he tied for the National League lead in strikeouts with 242, logged a team-high 215 innings and finished ninth in the Cy Young Award voting.

Strasburg emerged from his DL stint reporting that he was feeling 100 percent for the first time since arriving in Florida for spring training. Yesterday, his blazing fastball was alive, flashing 99 mph at times. More importantly, Strasburg was in command, locating the heater in the zone along with a filthy curveball and baffling changeup.

Dan Uggla is well aware of Strasburg's capabilities, not just from what he's seen as a teammate over the past few months. The three-time All-Star was 12-for-33 (.400) with two homers against Strasburg while playing with the Marlins and Braves. But Strasburg also whiffed him 11 times.

"Just saw a healthy Strasburg," said Uggla, who started at second base in the first game of the doubleheader. "I think that's what it comes down to. When he doesn't have anything pulling at him or bothering him or giving himself pain or whatever, I mean we've seen how dominant he can be in the past. You get a healthy Stephen Strasburg out there ... we've seen it the last two starts."

Meanwhile, Desmond's bat seems to be finally heating up. The 29-year-old absolutely pulverized a two-run homer of Phillies starter Severino Gonzalez in the fourth inning of the second game yesterday. The 453-foot rocket to center field was the third-longest homer of Desmond's career.

More importantly, it's the second home run for Desmond in his last four games. Over that, stretch, Desmond is 5-for-16 (.312) with four RBIs, three runs scored and a walk.

But beyond the lively bat, it was the discipline that Desmond showed in drawing a seventh-inning walk yesterday against Phillies right-hander Ken Giles that impressed Williams most.

"He stayed within the strike zone and didn't chase a ball up, didn't chase a ball down and away," Williams said. "He was seeing it good against him. Those kind of at-bats will get him right again."

Desmond hasn't been right for a long time. A winner of the Silver Slugger Award the last three seasons, Desmond is slashing just .224/.268/.349 this year, all on pace for career lows. June has been particularly horrid for Desmond, who is batting just .168 with 29 strikeouts during the month.

But this latest stretch could mean a sign that Desmond is returning to form. The Nationals could use his power in a lineup desperately looking for a bash brother to complement Bryce Harper.

"Baby steps," Desmond said Sunday. "I feel like I'm moving in the right direction. Like I said before, it's proven that it works. It's not like I haven't had success doing what I always do. So I'm just trying to keep as much faith in it and just understand that endurance builds character. And grind it out. And fortunately, we're winning in that process."