Strasburg labors early, then goes longer than expected in 6-4 win

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg expected to pitch three innings today. That was the plan. Three times up and down. And when he extended himself with a 27-pitch first inning against the Mets, he had little room for error if he was going to reach his goal.

So imagine the right-hander's surprise when he got to the dugout after working three innings and throwing 48 pitches when he was told he was going back out for the fourth inning.

"They just told me I had eight to 10 more pitches, so go back out there and try to get three outs in eight to 10 pitches," Strasburg said after becoming the first Nationals pitcher to go four innings this spring in a 6-4 victory over the Mets.

Strasburg's overall afternoon was stellar enough. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out five, throwing 37 of his 59 pitches for strikes. But consider how he started out, laboring in the opening frame, and it made his comeback all that much more impressive.

The first hitter of the game, Brandon Nimmo, fanned swinging, but a low Strasburg pitch skittered away from Yan Gomes and Nimmo scurried to first on the wild pitch. Keon Broxton then drew a walk, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. That's when Strasburg dug down, striking out Michael Conforto, getting Wilson Ramos to sky to right and getting Pete Alonso swinging to end the inning.

"It was good to be out there in kind of a jam, a lot of pitches in the first inning," Strasburg said. "Other than the walk, I felt like I was attacking the strike zone pretty good, but didn't realize I had thrown that many until after the fact. But having those types of innings is good, and then being able to go out there and kind of make the adjustment. I was pretty happy with it, arm felt really good."

Strasburg needed only eight pitches to get through a 1-2-3 second and he was on a roll. He surrendered a single to Nimmo in the third with one away and got out of the sixth on a nifty around-the-horn double play started by Anthony Rendon that erased a runner who had reached on shortstop Trea Turner's error.

Of the comeback from the long first inning and the four-inning effort, manager Davey Martinez said: "It's part of it, and then he comes back and gives us an eight-pitch inning. I like where he's at right now. I really do."

Strasburg's velocity may not be rising regularly into the mid-90s, but that's not a concern for the pitcher or his manager.

"Not really," Strasburg said. "I think it's moreso to see how they are reactive to the ball, and if it looks like they are not picking it up too well, that's a benefit for me, so..."

Added Martinez: "For me, it's no concern. But he was up at 95 (mph) today, which is good. But I really believe last year at the end he learned what he has to do and he learned how to use all his pitches effectively. Like I said, if it starts going down - 87 or 88 (mph) - then you start to worry. But he's pitching at 93-94 (mph) and throws a two-seamer at 91-92 (mph). I'm good with it."

Martinez is also good with slotting in Strasburg behind Max Scherzer in the Nationals rotation. Two power right-handers, followed by lefty Patrick Corbin, have the manager eager for the season to start. He'll match his top three against any team's.

"As of right now, yeah, I do. I mean, we got Max, Stras, Corbin. I mean, in a three-game series, that's a pretty good top three," Martinez said. "Then you got Aníbal (Sánchez) and Helly (Jeremy Hellickson) - or whoever the fifth starter may be - and I think that's a pretty good five guys."

The collective group is impressive, Strasburg said, but if he doesn't focus on his individual part, he'll be hurting the rotation.

"I mean I think there's always some guys look at it as a competition and stuff like that," he said. "But for me, it's what can I do to maximize the ability that I have and whatever everybody else does, I mean, I'm obviously rooting for the guys on my own team, but when you are looking across the field, it's kind of ... you don't want to sit there and try to one-up a guy, because they are facing different lineups. It's just about keeping it close and giving your team a chance to win."

Strasburg's next start will see his pitch count increase to 70-75 pitches, Martinez said.

"There's always room for improvement," Strasburg said. "There's definitely sequences that we were working on today and I'm going to continue to work on them, and the execution is going to be a continual work in progress."