Strasburg first major league pitcher to reach 10-0 this season

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg became Major League Baseball's first 10-game winner with seven strong innings in which he bounced back from a slow start to lift the Nationals past the Phillies 9-6.

Strasburg allowed four runs before the fourth inning, highlighted by a Tommy Joseph two-run shot that lifted the Phillies to the early 4-0 lead.

The Nationals answered with two runs in the bottom of the third.

Strasburg then rolled the Phillies, giving up no runs and no hits the rest of the way. He ended up striking out 10 over seven innings, allowing just those four runs early on.

The 10-0 start is the best ever in his career and marks the fourth time in the past five seasons he has earned at least 10 wins in a season.

Oh, and it's June 10.

Manager Dusty Baker said Strasburg turned it into overdrive after those early runs by the Phillies.

"After that, he got very determined not to give up anymore," Baker said. "We gave him some run support, which always helps big time. Man, it was one of those games where deuces were wild tonight. I looked up at the board and there were a lot of deuces up there. Most of them for us."

The Nationals scored in every inning from the third through the seventh to erase the 4-0 deficit and take a 9-4 lead.

Shortstop Danny Espinosa had a team-high three hits, including his 10th homer of the season. Espinosa was asked whether the rookie Strasburg might have been rattled if he gave up four early runs. Certainly not this season.

"Different guy," Espinosa said. "He's not going to stop. He's going to keep on going out there and getting after people. He was in the zone and threw a lot of strikes. He's getting ahead in counts. When he's ahead in counts, it makes it tough for a hitter to get solid contact on him."

Strasburg said he didn't change anything after allowing the four runs in the first three innings.

"Nothing really, just focusing on execution and it got better as the game went on," Strasburg said. "I wasn't going to change my approach. I gave up a few runs there early, but I was just going to keep pounding away and just keep them there."

And now he has 10 wins in 10 decisions.

The White Sox's Chris Sale is 10-2. The Cubs Jake Arrieta and the Giants Johnny Cueto are 9-1.

But no one is 10-0 like Stephen Strasburg.

Baker said he can appreciate such a start, but he won't sit there and admire it.

"I don't know what goes through my mind," Baker said. "Just keep it going. There's no sense in thinking about the end, just keep it going. We're scoring runs for him. Gio (Gonzalez) wishes he probably had some of those runs for himself, you know what I mean? We're going to get them for Gio, too.

"But (Strasburg) goes out there and works hard. He does his job. You don't even know he's around because he doesn't talk that much. But you can tell how determined he is to be one of the class guys in this league and in baseball."

Strasburg gets the last word. When asked what it's like to be undefeated this far into the season, he said the entire starting rotation could be 10-0 just like him.

"That's great. I think there's other guys in the rotation who've pitched well enough to win," Strasburg said. "But it's just about trying to go out there and do your job. They've been swinging the bat great for me, and I'm going to continue to try and keep it close for them."