Washington Nationals’ starter Stephen Strasburg seemed ready to face the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday evening in his second start since coming off the injured list with shoulder inflammation, but for the second time in three games, a Cincinnati starter outpitched a Washington star in a 3-0, seven-inning defeat for the Nats.
On Tuesday it was Tyler Mahle besting Max Scherzer; this time it was Sonny Gray over Strasburg, with Gray allowing just two hits and striking out three in six scoreless.
“Sonny was really good, made good pitches, kept our hitters off-balance, or you can look at it and say we took too many fastballs and got behind in the count.