Strasburg Shut Down One Start Early

Nationals ace was scheduled to make Sept. 12 start at New York

Nationals manager Davey Johnson announced Saturday that right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg had pitched his final game of the 2012 season Friday night against the Miami Marlins.

The ace of Washington's staff only lasted three innings and allowed five earned runs on six hits (including two home runs) and three walks, departing with Washington trailing, 5-2. The Nationals rallied to tie the game at 6-6 before eventually falling 9-7 in 10 innings.

After Friday's game, Johnson told reporters that he thought Strasburg was "thinking too much" about his pending shutdown, which was originally scheduled to take place after Strasburg's scheduled start Sept. 12 against the New York Mets. Strasburg rebutted Johnson's theory, telling the press that he'd simply had a bad night.

Strasburg will end the 2012 season, his first full campaign since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2010, with a record of 15-6 and a 3.16 ERA. He pitched a total of 159.1 innings, struck out 197 batters for a strikeout-per-9-innings ratio of 11.1, and made his first All-Star Game appearance.

The Nationals are scheduled to play the second game of their weekend series against the Marlins Saturday at 1:05 p.m. Washington currently leads the National League East by 6.5 games over the Atlanta Braves with a record of 85-53.

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