Strasburg and Solis' pitch selection demonstrate their dominance in win

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg mixed his pitches to perfection in the Nationals' 4-1 win over the Indians to split their two-game set at Progressive Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Strasburg struck out seven over seven innings, allowing no runs on three hits with just two walks.

As we noted on MASN's "Nats Xtra", Strasburg used any one of his pitches in any count to get guys out. His slider struck out Carlos Santana swinging in the first inning. Then to lead off the second, he got Mike Napoli on an 88 mph changeup. To finish off Rajai Davis, it was his 96 mph four-seam fastball. That same fastball, this time at 95.5 mph, got Francisco Lindor to whiff in the fourth frame.

Strasburg employed two sliders and two four-seam fastballs to strike out Chris Gimenez in the fifth. The same formula netted a strikeout of Tyler Naquin in the seventh. He then ended his outing with a spectacular knee buckling curveball to pinch-hitter Abraham Almonte for his seventh strikeout of the game.

Showing and using all of his pitches in any part of the count demonstrates how far Strasburg has come in his confidence level for each pitch. It also shows how far he has come in his maturation as a veteran starter. Being able to use his slider, four-seam fastball, changeup and even his curveball as strikeout pitches puts him on a different level and is one of the top reasons why he is a career-best 14-1.

Having Max Scherzer and Strasburg to lead off any series, whether it is in July or in October, completely alters the landscape for the Nats.

Another impressive demonstration of dominance was put out on the field in the eighth when left-hander Sammy Solis dispatched Santana and Jason Kipnis with back-to-back strikeouts. It was an incredible display of six pitches for two strikeouts. Solis went two-seam fastball to curve to two-seam fastball to strikeout the first two batters in the Indians lineup.

Solis allowed a Lindor single in the next at-bat. But the way the University of San Diego product was in such good rhythm it would have been nice to see Solis not only finish that inning but also been given the shot at the ninth inning as well. Solis has the kind off stuff to finish off games, even if it means going two innings. The Lindor single is not that big of a deal when your team has a 4-0 lead.