Back at home, Strasburg looks to keep on rolling

After Stephen Strasburg's last outing, a start in which he allowed just one run over 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight and walking zero, manager Matt Williams said it was the best he thought he had seen Strasburg all season. Williams added that it was "probably the most important" outing for Strasburg, as well. His rationale for that statement was that Strasburg had posted back-to-back strong outings against the Mets and Diamondbacks earlier in August, but then had been hit hard by the Giants in a start in which he went just four innings. The key, in Williams' mind, was that Strasburg was able to put that clunker behind him, bounce back against a good Mariners team, and get himself back on track. Strasburg was successful in that, limiting the Mariners to six hits over his 7 2/3 innings, spotting his fastball at 95-97 mph (especially to the arm-side, which is inside to right-handed hitters and away from lefties) and mixing in dynamite offspeed stuff. Strasburg got 12 swings and misses from Mariners hitters, three times as many as he did in that outing against the Giants, despite throwing just 16 more pitches. Tonight, Strasburg will get a chance to keep the ball rolling against the Phillies. And he'll pitch at home, where he's been far better than on the road this season. It might get overlooked because of a couple of rough outings mixed in, but Strasburg has been pretty impressive overall in his last seven outings. In those starts, the Nationals are 5-2, Strasburg has a 2.96 ERA, and opponents are batting just .209 off him. He's allowed one earned run or fewer in five of those seven starts. It will be interesting to see tonight whether Jose Lobaton is back behind the plate, working with Strasburg. The two have formed the Nats' battery in each of Strasburg's last four starts, and they seem to have developed quite a rapport. Strasburg said after the outing in Seattle that throwing to Lobaton was like being on "auto-pilot". But Lobaton did catch the final game of the Nats' last road trip and Wilson Ramos is coming off two straight days off. Does Lobaton get the start again today, or will Strasburg work with Ramos? Strasburg's ERA with Ramos is solid this season (3.30 in 14 starts), but he has been statistically a bit better with Lobaton (2.76 over 12 starts). Regardless, as we get deeper into September, the Nats would like to see Strasburg continue to heat up, throw his fastball to both sides of the plate and make hitters uncomfortable. That's been a focus of the right-hander's of late, and now that the stretch run is upon us, seeing Strasburg continue to pile up strong outings and build momentum is important.