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Welcome to MASN's discussion space for tonight's Nationals-Reds game. I'll post some updates and thoughts on the game throughout, and I'll be chatting live about Stephen Strasburg's ninth big-league start from the fourth through the sixth innings. In the meantime, you can leave your thoughts on the game in the comments section of this post, and I'll respond to you there.
-- 7:15: The Nationals went down in order in the first, and Stephen Strasburg is on the mound for the first time against the Reds, facing Brandon Phillips.
-- 7:18: Strasburg got behind 3-1 to Phillips, but came inside with a 97-mph fastball to get a groundout. Have fun with that pitch.
--7:19: A 99-mph fastball breaks Orlando Cabrera's bat. He's pitching inside quite a bit early.
--7:26: Check-swing groundout for Josh Willingham, and the Nationals have two down in the second against Arroyo.
--7:28: Roger Bernadina has the first hit of the game, fighting off a 1-2 sinker from Bronson Arroyo and sending it to right for a single. Good two-strike swing from Bernadina.
--7:30: Another groundout to short from Ivan Rodriguez ends the inning. At least it was only for one out.
--7:35: Strasburg comes inside again, buzzing a 99-mph fastball in on Jonny Gomes' hands for his second strikeout. And then Jay Bruce, trying to jump on an early fastball, gives Strasburg a one-pitch out.
--7:38: An inside fastball runs too far off the plate, and Strasburg walks Miguel Cairo. But he comes back with a 98-mph that clipped the outside corner of the plate to strike out Drew Stubbs looking. That's three Ks in two innings for Strasburg.
--7:50: Strasburg isn't the only one dealing tonight; Arroyo has 36 pitches through three innings, having given up a hit and a walk but nothing else. He's allowed two runs in his last 17 innings against the Nationals, and threw a two-hitter against them in this park last August. It's going to be tough for the Nats to get much going.
--7:55: The top two buttons on Strasburg's jersey look odd, and he stopped to fix it an minute ago. And then he struck out Arroyo with 98-mph heat, his fourth strikeout in nine batters tonight.
--7:57: The Reds have their first hit -- a triple from Brandon Phillips on an outside fastball from Strasburg that stayed a little high in the zone. Nyjer Morgan almost ran it down, but Phillips was able to pull in with a triple - and might have scored if an aggressive throw from Cristian Guzman had evaded Ryan Zimmerman. As it was, it took Zimmerman off the bag to catch it.
-- 8:00: A hanging breaking ball -- which we don't see often from Strasburg -- has led to the Reds' first run. Cabrera slashed it to left for a hit, and the Reds lead 1-0. With Arroyo on the mound, that might be all they need.
-- 8:01: We're going to take this live for a few innings in the window below. I'll keep posting some updates here, but if you've got questions on the game or the Nationals, I'll take them in the live window for the next three innings:
-- 8:35: The Nationals have taken a 3-1 lead in the fifth via an unlikely source; Cristian Guzman. He hit his second homer of the year off Arroyo, blasting a fastball to right to give the Nationals the lead. They've got a chance to get Strasburg his fifth win of the year and third in a row.
-- 9:09: It's 7-1 Nats now; they scored four runs on the Reds in the sixth, off a pair of two-run singles by Ian Desmond and Nyjer Morgan, who's got four RBI in this series. Strasburg looks like he'll get his fifth win, and the Nationals' offense has 14 runs in its last two games after not scoring for 23 innings.
-- 9:31: Back from our live chat (you can check out the replay below if you like), and Stephen Strasburg's night is done. It didn't end quite as he'd hoped; a hanging curveball got him in trouble a few times in the sixth, and he was pulled with one out left in the inning. Strasburg, who was pretty steamed as he left the game, finished with three runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. He also walked one, and threw a wild pitch. Of Strasburg's 97 pitches, 63 were strikes.
-- 9:55: Just wrote a quick analysis of Strasburg's night here. The Reds are threatening in the seventh, having loaded the bases on Drew Storen. Sean Burnett is in the game now, trying to get Joey Votto out when the All-Star first baseman has a chance to tie the game.
-- 10:02: Nice high fastball from Tyler Clippard to get out of the seventh on a strikeout of Drew Stubbs; the Nats gave up a run on a groundout by Votto, but they still lead 7-4.
-- 10:19: Odd moment after Ryan Hanigan's foul ball, which missed being a homer by a couple feet. The Reds shot off fireworks, and seeing those, the paddleboat that paces the Ohio River just south of the stadium also fired off a volley of fireworks. Hanigan walked, but got quite a bit of fanfare for his foul ball.
-- 10:25: It's a 7-5 game now, after Clippard gave up a pinch single to Chris Heisey that scored Drew Stubbs. Walking Hanigan, the No. 8 hitter, set that up; walks have been a problem for the Nationals' bullpen tonight, particularly at the bottom of the order.
-- 10:30: The Nationals have an insurance run from another unlikely source: Willie Harris, who blasted his fifth homer of the year on a pinch appearance in the top of the ninth. The Nationals are up 8-5, and we should see Matt Capps fairly soon, in his first save situation of the second half.
