A healthy Stephen Strasburg proves dominance

Stephen Strasburg watched the Nationals and Rockies combine for 21 runs on 28 hits, including four homers on Tuesday night. He entered Wednesday's start having lost his only two outings at Coors Field, dinged with a 5.56 ERA.

But the talented right-hander blocked all of that out as he blitzed the Rockies lineup with a blazing, high-90s fastball, a baffling changeup and a filthy curveball in the Nationals' 4-1 win.

The Rockies combined an error and a wild pitch to score an unearned run off Strasburg in the second. Other than that, Strasburg handcuffed Colorado, yielding just two hits with no walks and five strikeouts over seven innings.

"Really good," Nationals manager Matt Williams told reporters. "Through seven, (93) pitches and could've gone another. In this ballpark, that's saying something. I think he was in command the whole game. He threw where he wanted to. He threw well. ... He gave us a chance."

Deadlocked at 1-1 with two outs in the eighth, Williams opted to call Strasburg back from the on-deck circle in favor of pinch-hitter Clint Robinson. The move worked as Robinson fought out a walk, giving the Nats two runners on for Jayson Werth. The 13-year veteran brough them both home, smacking a triple to the right field corner.

As Werth slid safely into third, the Nationals dugout erupted, led by a fist-pumping Strasburg.

"He's been great," Werth said on MASN's "Nats Xtra" about Strasburg's suffocating performance. "When you think Stephen Strasburg, that's what you think you're gonna get. He's just being himself. He's just doing what he does. So just keep him going (and) everybody else keeps going and we keep winning ballgames, we'll find a way to right this ship."

After nagging injuries twice interrupted Strasburg's season with trips to the disabled list, the Nationals are finally receiving the expected results from the former ace of their staff. Since rejoining the rotation on Aug. 8, Strasburg is 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA, yielding just four runs (three earned) on 12 hits while walking two and fanning 25 over 20 innings.

"That's what you can get from him," Williams told reporters. "Dominant stuff every time he goes out there. He's got a chance to do something special every time he takes the mound.

"It's important for him to have command, one, and just be aggressive (with) good tempo. Out of the windup, he's got great tempo. He's on top of the baseball throwing it downhill. All of his pitches are working."

For the first time since joining the Nationals, Jonathan Papelbon had the opportunity to close out one of Strasburg's gems. The veteran right-hander breezed through a perfect ninth inning to claim his 20th save of the season and third with the Nats. Before though, Papelbon watched from the bullpen as Strasburg shut down the Rockies, retiring the last 10 batters he faced.

"Total control of the game," Papelbon emphasized to reporters about Strasburg. "He went out there from pitch one to the last pitch he threw and was in total control of the game. He knew exactly what he wanted to do out there and executed it."