WASHINGTON — Sensational starts from Stephen Strasburg are no longer good enough for the Washington Nationals. The way they’re hitting the ball these days, they need him to be just about perfect.
The hard-throwing rookie suffered his first major league loss Thursday, despite another solid outing. He struck out nine to set another record, didn’t walk a batter and allowed only one run over six innings in a 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
“If we don’t score runs,” Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said, “it doesn’t matter who’s pitching.”
Strasburg (2-1) was bested by Brian Bannister (7-5), who allowed5 hits and walked 2 in 6 innings as the Royals snapped a five-game losing streak. Robinson Tejeda got six outs and Joakim Soria finished for his 17th save.
“I don’t care if I ever face him again,” Kansas City Manager Ned Yost said. “We gave him his first loss, and I can tell my grandkids 10 years down the road.”
So, how did you beat him?
“I don’t want the league to beat up on him. We’ll just keep that to ourselves,” Yost said with a laugh.
The right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.78 but allowed nine hits, one fewer than in his first three starts combined. Most were scattered, but the Royals put three together to score with two out in the fifth. Jose Guillen, who reached three times and extended his hitting streak to 18 games, singled in David DeJesus.
REDS 3, ATHLETICS 0
Johnny Cueto pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning, and Jay Bruce had a two-run single in his second consecutive three-hit game as host Cincinnati swept the series against Oakland.
BREWERS 5, TWINS 3
Leadoff batter Rickie Weeks had a hand in all five Milwaukee runs and the Brewers overcame a club-record five wild pitches with a strong effort by the bullpen to beat visiting Minnesota. Weeks had three hits, drove in three runs and scored twice.
CARDINALS 1, BLUE JAYS 0
Matt Holliday hit an RBI single off Kevin Gregg with two out in the ninth inning, handing a victory to Chris Carpenter and leading visiting St. Louis over Toronto.
MARLINS 7, ORIOLES 5
Edwin Rodriguez enjoyed a successful debut as interim manager of Florida, who got home runs from Gaby Sanchez and Jorge Cantu in a comeback victory at Baltimore.
METS 5, TIGERS 0
R.A. Dickey pitched eight shutout innings and Jose Reyes homered to lead New York to a victory over visiting Detroit.
PADRES 5, RAYS 4
Will Venable, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley homered to help visiting San Diego beat Tampa Bay.
PHILLIES 7, INDIANS 6
Jimmy Rollins hit the first game-ending home run of his career, a two-run shot with one out in the ninth inning that lifted Philadelphia over visiting Cleveland.
RANGERS 13, PIRATES 3
Michael Young had three hits and drove in four runs playing only half the game and Texas extended the majors’ longest winning streak this season to 10 in a row with a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.
ROCKIES 8, ROCKIES 6
Jason Giambi hit a game-ending, two-run home run off Jonathan Papelbon as Colorado scored three times in the ninth to beat visiting Boston.
WHITE SOX 4, BRAVES 2
Carlos Quentin homered twice off Tim Hudson, and Mark Buehrle pitched out of numerous jams as Chicago extended their winning streak to eight games with a victory over visiting Atlanta.
National League ASTROS 6, GIANTS 3 Brett Myers pitched seven effective innings, Jeff Keppinger had three RBI and Houston beat visiting San Francisco to snap a five-game losing streak. Myers (5-5) allowed 3 runs, 1 earned, and 6 hits, becoming the first player in franchise history to begin the season by pitching six innings or more in each of his first 15 starts. He also had two hits and drove in a run.
Wednesday’s games
INTERLEAGUE
Cincinnati 3, Oakland 0 Kansas City 1, Washington 0 Philadelphia 7, Cleveland 6 Florida 7, Baltimore 5 St. Louis 1, Toronto 0 NY Mets 5, Detroit 0 San Diego 5, Tampa Bay 4 Texas 13, Pittsburgh 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Atlanta 2 Milwaukee 5, Minnesota 3 Colorado 8, Boston 6 NY Yankees at Arizona, (n) LA Dodgers at LA Angels, (n) Chicago Cubs at Seattle, (n)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco 3, Houston 1
Sports, Pages 20 on 06/24/2010