Reuters/New York
The Colorado Rockies handed Washington ace Stephen Strasburg his first defeat in more than a month with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Nationals on Monday.
Adrian Cardenas of the Chicago Cubs (left) reaches third base on an error as Ruben Tejada of the New York Mets looks on during the seventh inning of their MLB National League baseball game in Chicago, on Monday. (Reuters
Strasburg (9-2) had won his last six starts, but the Rockies got to him in the sixth inning, where the hard-throwing pitcher lost control and hit Marco Scutaro on the head.
Scutaro left the game, walking under his own power, and Strasburg departed not long after with his first loss since May 15.
“It happens... part of baseball,” Strasburg told reporters after striking out eight in the defeat.
“You try to get in and obviously you never want to hit a guy in the head, but you have to keep going out there and pounding the strike zone. Once I saw him walk off, I figured he’d be OK.”
Carlos Gonzalez and Todd Helton batted RBIs for Colorado in the pivotal sixth to grab a 3-2 lead and help the struggling Rockies (28-44) beat the National League East leading Nationals (41-30).
Washington has a 3 ½ game lead in the division, while Colorado won for just the fourth time in 18 games.
Rockies starter Jeff Francis tossed five innings in his second solid outing in a row since being signed by Colorado earlier this month.
Reliever Josh Roenicke was credited with the win after keeping Washington scoreless in the sixth and seventh, where the home team added a final run on a Chris Nelson single.
Washington got two men on base against Rafael Betancourt with one out in the ninth, but the closer got the final two outs to end the contest.
“Impressive,” Francis said of his team’s effort.
“I left the game and we were losing. There are probably a
lot of days in this summer when that game ends 2-1. We did a great job of coming back and scoring some runs on (Strasburg).”
Jesus Flores had three hits for the Nationals and scored twice. Strasburg brought Flores home with a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth.
Free agent Byrd handed 50-game ban for doping offence
Free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd has been handed a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball after testing positive for an illegal performance-enhancing substance, it was announced Monday.
The 34-year-old Byrd began the season with the Chicago Cubs, who traded him to Boston in April but he was released by the Red Sox on June 12.
Byrd will now be put on baseball’s restricted list for the duration of his suspension. He blames the failed test on a past medication he took for an undisclosed surgery.
“I made an inexcusable mistake,” Byrd said in a statement released by the players’ association. “I absolutely did not use (the medication) for performance enhancement reasons.
“I will serve my suspension, continue to work hard and hope that I am given an opportunity to help a club win later this season.”
Byrd batted .270 in 34 games with the Red Sox this year. He has played for five MLB teams over 11 seasons.
Results
NY YANKEES 7 Cleveland 1
PHILADELPHIA 8 Pittsburgh 3
Toronto 9 BOSTON 6
St Louis 8 MIAMI 7
CINCINNATI 3 Milwaukee 1
CHICAGO CUBS 6 NY Mets 1
San Diego 8 HOUSTON 7
Detroit 8 TEXAS 2
KANSAS CITY 8 Tampa Bay 0
MINNESOTA 4 Chicago W Sox 1
COLORADO 4 Washington 2
Oakland 1 SEATTLE 0
SAN FRANCISCO 8 LA Dodgers 0