After Stephen Strasburg left the Nationals with a 1-0 lead, the offense scratched three more runs across the plate and Washington's bullpen allowed just two baserunners in the final three innings as the Nationals defeated the New York Mets, 4-0 at Citi Field Wenesday afternoon.
With Mark DeRosa's run on a second-inning Johan Santana wild pitch still holding up as the only score of the game, Strasburg rung up Jason Bay on a generous strike three call and induced Josh Thole to fly out to center field on his 108th pitch of the day. Strasburg finished the day with six shutout innings, nine strikeouts, two hits, and three walks.
Washington added a run in the 7th inning as DeRosa worked a walk with the bases loaded. Then the Nationals made the score 3-0 in the 8th on a groundout by Chad Tracy, and 3-0 became 4-0 in the ninth when Ryan Zimmerman scored on Jesus Flores' bases-loaded walk.
Ryan Mattheus, Sean Burnett, and Henry Rodriguez each pitched scoreless innings to nail down the win.
The Nationals return home to face the Cincinnati Reds in the first of a four-game series Thursday. First pitch for the home opener is at 1:05.
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