CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
Steven Strasburg major league debut went the way the national media predicted. The highly touted pitching phenom has made news at nearly every level and has been the talk of every major sport program for weeks.
And he did not disappoint striking out fourteen batters in his win yesterday.
His pitches were all in the mid to upper nineties, with a fast ball maxing out at 101 mph.
He finished just two strikeouts short of the major league record for most strikeouts in a major league debut. Strasburg would finish his day after seven innings and 97 pitches allowing four hits and two earned runs. And even at that point he was still able to throw a 99 mph fastball. Strasburg clearly has a very successful major league career ahead of them.
But good news for the Nationals is bad news for the Pirates as they were clearly out matched today. The Pirates four hits off of Strasburg netted a total of two runs. Delwyn Young’s two run homer in the fourth to drive in Walker was the Pirates only real scoring opportunity during Strasburg time on the mound.
Pirates decided did not start Brad Lincoln today, instead saving his start for Wednesday. Instead they started converted relief pitcher Jeff Karstens who had a very forgettable day. Karstens would give up nine hits and four earned runs in his five innings on the mound. Unlike Strasburg, Karstens did not strikeout a single batter.
Much of Kartsens trouble did not start until the sixth inning. In fact up until the sixth Kartens had only given up a single run in the first. However after allowing the lead man to get on base he proceeded to give up back-to-back homeruns to put the Pirates in a 4-2 hole. He was promptly removed for Evan Meek after that, but the damage was done and the Strasburg would earn his first major league win.
The Pirate’s bullpen would allow one more run to score in the eighth innings after reliever Javier Lopez loaded the bases with no outs. While Lopez worked his way out of the inning, the Nationals would add a run on a fielders choice double play scored Ryan Zimmerman from third.
While the Pirates have not done well behind the plate with just McCutchen and Walker hitting over .300, they truly struggled today going a combined 5 for 31. And with the game being national televised on the MLB network the audience came away with one of two questions. Is Strasburg really that good? Or are the Pirates hitting just that bad?
