Strasburg "not worried" about calf cramp after six scoreless innings

HOUSTON - Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg managed to throw six scoreless innings against the top-scoring club in the major leagues Thursday night, despite having to deal with a cramp in his left calf as the game wore on.

Strasburg began the sixth inning by striking out Derek Fisher and George Springer. He allowed a double to Alex Bregman, but then got Jose Altuve on a screaming liner that was caught by Howie Kendrick in left field to end the inning.

Strasburg surrendered only three hits, no runs on the six innings, striking out seven and walking only one. He has 15 strikeouts and two walks in his last 12 innings since returning from the disabled list.

Manager Dusty Baker sensed Strasburg was in some discomfort with the cramp in his leg.

"He's in the hands of the trainers and the lord because he can't tell when it's gonna rear its ugly head," Baker said. "Anyone who's ever had cramps, you can't even move, and you can tell when he went to back up third that time, he couldn't go. And he was dealing. We didn't want to take him out, but you gotta do that before he hurts his arm a little bit trying to throw a little different trying to save his leg.

"It was a good game. Stras threw a heck of a game. He came out because he was having cramps."

Strasburg acknowledged the cramp in his calf was an issue, but said he is "not worried" the soreness will linger or affect his next start.

"Yeah, it started grabbing on me a little bit," he said.

Strasburg was lethal early, striking out four of the first six batters he faced, including Bregman, Jose Altuve and Josh Reddick. The main reason? His curveball had a knee-buckling bite that crossed up Bregman and Altuve to end the first.

Has he done anything different with his curveball to make it move so well?

"Not really," he said. "I just try and trust it and let it go. Command's been pretty good. Changeup's been really good. So just trying to keep it together and hopefully do it again next time."

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman said it looked like vintage Strasburg to him. It reminded him of what Strasburg was able to do in May, when he racked up seven wins to one loss.

"I think he's back to kind of doing what he did before," Zimmerman said. "For him, it's never a matter of stuff, it's just a matter of being able to go out there and pitch and stay on the mound, and he's really worked hard to get a routine down and make sure he has the best chance to be out there every fifth day.

"It's not for lack of effort, that guy works harder than a lot of people, and for us it's just great to have him out there. We're obviously a lot better team when he's on the mound every fifth day."

His club managed to fight back after giving up a 3-0 lead to beat the Astros 5-3 in 11. The Nationals have now won 12 of their last 17 games and are 41-24 on the road.