WASHINGTON — By the time Stephen Strasburg settled down and looked like his dominant self, it was too late and his undefeated season was over.
Strasburg struck out 10, but allowed six runs and seven hits including two home runs and the Washington Nationals lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 on Thursday. It’s Strasburg’s first loss since Sept. 9, ending a streak of 16 consecutive winning decisions.
WHO'S HOT
n Reliever Zach Britton of the Orioles has 30 saves in 30 chances.
who’s Not
n Starting pitcher CC Sabathia of the Yankees is 0-3 with a 6.99 ERA in five career starts on his birthday.
“During the streak he was outstanding,” Manager Dusty Baker said. “You know every streak is going to end. That’s the best streak I’ve ever seen I think. Now you just go back to the drawing board and start a new streak.”
The All-Star right-hander allowed two- and three-run home runs to third baseman Justin Turner in the first and third innings and an RBI single to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. After Turner’s home run, Strasburg retired 12 of his final 13 batters.
“It was just a couple of pitches where I just didn’t execute when I needed to, and I got beat on them,” Strasburg said. “Once I got past those first couple innings I started throwing more first-pitch strikes.”
Strasburg (13-1) had the longest winning streak to begin a season among National League starters since Rube Marquard of the New York Giants went 18-0 in 1912.
The Dodgers hit the ball hard against him early, but he had that unstoppable stuff in his final three innings.
At the plate, Strasburg’s teammates couldn’t crack Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias, who allowed one run and five hits in four innings. Bryce Harper drove in Trea Turner with a sacrifice fly in the first, Danny Espinosa had an RBI double and Daniel Murphy an RBI single off the Los Angeles bullpen.
The Nationals left 12 runners on base in losing to the Dodgers for the fifth time in six games.
MARLINS 9, PHILLIES 3: Tom Koehler pitched eight strong innings, Ichiro Suzuki moved within four hits of reaching 3,000 for his career and Miami pounded out 16 hits in a win at Philadelphia.
Christian Yelich homered for the Marlins, who won three of four over the Phillies to cap a seven-game road trip 5-2. Miami moved 1 games ahead of the idle Mets for the second wild-card spot in the National League. The Marlins return home for an important 10-game series that begins Friday night against the Mets.
Ryan Howard and Freddy Galvis homered for Philadelphia, which has dropped four of five.
Suzuki hit an infield single in the third and a solid single to right-center in the eighth to bring his major-league total to 2,996. He is vying to become the 30th player all-time to reach 3,000 hits.
PIRATES 5, BREWERS 3: Francisco Liriano took another step toward putting his season-long control issues behind him, striking out 13 to lead Pittsburgh to a win at home.
Liriano (6-9) gave up three runs and four hits in 62/3 innings and didn’t issue a walk for just the second time in 19 starts. The left-hander entered the game having issued a major-league high 62 walks this season.
CARDINALS 6, PADRES 5: Aledmys Diaz’s walk-off single in the ninth inning gave St. Louis a come-from-behind victory at home. St. Louis, which scored four runs in the eighth, recorded its first four-game series sweep at home since beating Colorado on Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.
ROCKIES 7, BRAVES 3: Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to pace Colorado to a win at home.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 4, YANKEES 1: Chris Tillman tied for the major league lead with his 14th win, pitching four-hit ball for seven innings and helping depleted Baltimore avert a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium.
The Orioles had lost four straight overall, costing them their lead in the AL East. The Yankees had won four in a row.
Baltimore slugger Chris Davis, shortstop Manny Machado and Manager Buck Showalter returned from a stomach bug that’s hit the clubhouse. But center fielder Adam Jones didn’t play because of back spasms, catcher Matt Wieters missed his third consecutive game after being hit by a pitch in the foot and rookie outfielder Joey Rickard sat with an injured thumb.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.