Strasburg done after five scoreless (Nats win 12-0)

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

March 25, 2012, 11:28am

Comments

VIERA, Fla. - Not only have the Nationals' bats come alive today, they've finally gotten a strong outing from a starting pitcher. Stephen Strasburg went five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk with one hit-batter and five strikeouts. Strasburg threw 84 pitches, 47 for strikes. Not a dominating effort from the righty, but he made pitches when he needed to. Strasburg stranded two runners in the first, got a 4-6-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, and then left two Mets on base in the fourth. It was against the Mets - not exactly the stiffest of competition - but still a nice outing. Meanwhile, the Nationals continue to pile on in the hit column. They have 16 base-knocks through six innings, including three each from Danny Espinosa, Ryan Zimmerman and Roger Bernadina. Jesus Flores is the lone Nationals starter not to get in the hit column today, although the catcher did walk twice and score a run. It's 11-0 Nats here as we enter the seventh in an incredibly slow-moving game. At this pace, we might be out of here just in time for tomorrow's 1 p.m. contest. Update: Hey, a win! The Nats routed the Mets 12-0, bashing 17 hits. Back with more in a bit.