Nationals 6, Padres 2
SAN DIEGO -- Stephen Strasburg's first professional outing in his hometown against the San Diego Padres was a success.
Adam LaRoche and Bryce Harper homered, and Strasburg quieted the Padres' offense in the Washington Nationals' 6-2 victory at Petco Park on Thursday night.
Strasburg (2-5), a standout at San Diego State before being the top pick of the 2009 draft, allowed two runs (one earned) in a career-high eight innings. He gave up three hits and three walks while striking out four, throwing 117 pitches, 68 of them for strikes.
The lone earned run he gave up was a sacrifice fly to Chris Denorfia in the sixth.
Padres starter Edinson Volquez, who had a 3-0 mark with a 2.59 ERA in his last five starts, allowed five runs on five hits and four walks in five innings. Volquez (3-4) struck out seven, including five of the six batters early in the game before giving up two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth.
Harper returned to the Nationals' lineup three days after he crashed into the wall at Dodger Stadium, with subsequent soreness forcing him to miss two starts. Harper drilled the first pitch he saw from reliever Tyson Ross with two outs in the seventh, with the ball landing an estimated 431 feet and well past the wall in straightaway center.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak at home for the Padres (18-22) and was only their second defeat at Petco in the last 11 games. The Nationals (22-19) halted a two-game skid.
LaRoche broke up a scoreless contest and produced the Nationals' first hit by driving a Volquez pitch over the wall in right center for a 2-0 lead after a walk to Ryan Zimmerman with one out in the fourth. The home run allowed LaRoche to extend his career-best hitting streak to 13 games.
The Nationals added three runs in the fifth. An RBI single by Steve Lombardozzi drove in Kurt Suzuki before Zimmerman delivered a two-run hit to center to score Denard Span and Lombardozzi for a 5-0 advantage.
The Padres loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning. Strasburg gave up a leadoff double to Jedd Gyorko and a walk to Alexi Amarista, and Kyle Blanks reached on a fielder's choice. Everth Cabrera's RBI groundout plated a run, but that was it.
NOTES: Heisman Trophy-winning Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel threw out the first pitch and took batting practice before the game. Manziel has been working out in San Diego with quarterback guru George Whitfield Jr. ... Harper said before the game that the entire left side of his body remained sore from Monday's collision. "I hit the wall at about 100 miles per hour, so I don't think anytime soon that I don't feel it," Harper said. "I'll just go out there and do what I can." ... The Padres had committed just 10 errors in the past 28 games entering Thursday's contest. Their .911 fielding percentage ranked second in the National League and third in the Majors. ... Padres LHP Clayton Richard allowed just four hits and one run in six innings Thursday during a rehab appearance for Triple-A Tucson. He has been on the disabled list since May 5 due to an intestinal virus. ... The game drew an announced crowd of 24,234.
