Sure, the Nats offense scored 8 runs on Wednesday, but pitching is the story of the day for the organization.
Strasburg went just 5 2/3 innings to get the win on Wednesday, as the Nats beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-5. SS is now 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA and 75 strikeouts. He's been in the league for just under a month and a half and he's half way to double digit wins. In case you were wondering the last Nats starter to get 10 or more wins... well that would be Tim Redding in 2008. Before that, it was Ramon Ortiz in 2006. It'd be great to see Strasburg end up on that list so the Nats could stick to their every-other-year trend for 10+ winners. And eventually, buck that trend.
Down in Potomac, Jordan Zimmermann pitched 4 innings of 0 run, 2 hit baseball. He struck out 4 and walked none. The Big Nats can't wait to get this guy back on the squad. Perhaps as soon as next month.
Ross Detwiler had an equally impressive start for AA Harrisburg. He went 7 innings of 0 run, 5 hit baseball, struck out 7, and walked just 1. His ERA is now 2.48. With the Nats announcing that Luis Atilano is "hurt" and will not make his next start on Sunday in Milwaukee, it will be interesting to see what the team's next move is.
Now that Detwiler has gotten deep into a few games and has show that he is capable of being effective all the way through 7 innings, it's possible that he could make an appearance in Atilano's place. But always lingering somewhere in the organization is Matt Chico, who is the other top candidate for the spot start.
I, for one, hope to see Detwiler with the Nats for the start, but only time will tell. All in all, despite the infuriating near implosion by the Nationals in Cincinnati, Wednesday was a pretty great day for Nationals baseball.
No way they would put Rossy D in for Sunday because it would be short rest. Chico's spot lines up with Atilano's "sore arm" spot. I would think that when the spot comes up again next Friday that THEN Rossy D would take the spot on regular rest.
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