Strasburg, protests, and a series win

( All photos by Joe Drugan for Capitol Baseball)

Well, Capitol Baseball is (basically) here to say through the rest of the season minus two weekend trips in a few weeks. Sorry for the extended delay for today's post. I had internet connectivity issues and a system upgrade today. So let's start this last 43 game stretch talking about.... Stephen Strasburg.

Strasburg returned to the mound for the Nationals on Sunday for the second time since returning from the disabled list, and let me tell you, it was a world of difference. Strasburg was hitting his pitches, mixing in his change up regularly, and blowing Diamondbacks away, tallying 7 strikeouts. He committed an error on a throw to first that ultimately cost him 2 unearned runs, but he ended up with a no decision in 5 innings. Tyler Clippard swooped in with 3 strikeouts of his own over 2 innings to earn the win.

SS almost ended up coming out for the 6th inning, until this happened:

This view from the top shows security guards (in white shirts) with on-the-field protesters. Most of the people in Section 409 were yelling things like, "Taze them, bro!" and "Tackle that $%#@" well, you get the idea. You hate to see people run on the field to disrupt the game, but it was nice to see a semi-competent reaction from on-field security. (Fan on field at an Orioles game with the most depressing security display ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffWxVvHLwXM)

Finally, before the game, there was a group of a few dozen people protesting Arizona's immigration law. I'll just show the picture here before I find myself knee deep in political commentary.

All in all, what really matters is the Nats won 5-3 and took another series from the Diamondbacks. The team has Monday off before heading to Atlanta for 3 games, and then Philadelphia (hopefully without Jason Marquis).