A day in the Strasbosphere

Pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg dominated the Cleveland Indians in 5.1 innings of work during a 9-4 Washington Nationals win this afternoon.

Strasburg struck out eight and only allowed two hits, including a Travis Hafner home run. He did walk five batters, however.

He consistently hit 98-100 MPH on the radar gun but did slow the game down twice by calling the grounds crew out to work on the mound. He was booed by some fans when he was pulled from the game.

He is now 2-0 with 22 strikeouts after his first week in the Majors.

Three of Cleveland's first six outs were strikeouts, and Strasburg got Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan to strike out swinging to get out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth after he walked two.

He lost his poise in the bottom of the sixth, though. After being spotted a five-run lead by his teammates in the top of the inning and getting Shin-Soo Choo to fly out to center, Carlos Santana singled and Strasburg walked the bases loaded before being pulled. He showed frustration on the mound once he knew he was going to get pulled, a first for his young career.

Strasburg did help the Indians draw a crowd of 32,876, easily their largest since Opening Day. Hall of Famer Bob Feller watched the game from the press box, and Cleveland Brown kick returner Joshua Cribbs was also on hand.

A chunk of the crowd hit the exits after Strasburg was lifted.

Photos by Andrew Harner