Strasburg leaves game due to "heat-related issues" (Nats lose 7-5)

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

June 30, 2012, 2:14pm

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The 104-degree heat in Atlanta got the better of Stephen Strasburg today. The Nationals ace was pulled from today's game after just three innings due to what the team is calling "heat-related issues." Strasburg was really laboring this afternoon and clearly wasn't himself. He walked four hitters and needed 67 pitches to get through his three frames. The righty's final line: three innings, three runs, two hits, four walks and four strikeouts. Only 36 of his 67 pitches were for strikes. Strasburg and the Nats trailed 3-2 after three, but Chien-Ming Wang allowed three more runs in his first relief inning and then another run in the fifth. The Nats tacked on two runs in the sixth, making it a 7-4 Braves lead. Update: Those seven runs allowed from the third through fifth innings came back to haunt the Nationals, who fell to the Braves 7-5. Strasburg falls to 9-3 on the season, Wang's ERA jumps to 7.61 and the Nats lose their first game at Turner Field this season after starting 4-0.