Strasburg Earns 100th Win As Nationals Rally Past White Sox
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg didn't turn in a vintage performance. He still did enough — with plenty of help from the Washington Nationals' offense — to reach a career milestone.
Strasburg earned his 100th victory, Anthony Rendon homered and drove in five runs and Washington rallied past the Chicago White Sox 9-5 for its eighth victory in 10 games.
Strasburg (6-3) gave up four runs in a 39-pitch first inning and spotted Chicago a 5-0 lead. But he hung around long enough to complete five innings and become the first National to reach the 100-win plateau since the franchise moved from Montreal.
"I definitely got punched in the face in the first," Strasburg said. "There's only one thing you can do and I think that's what we preach as an organization (and) that's never give up and keep battling."
Strasburg threw 105 pitches in his second-shortest stint of the season. But the White Sox couldn't manage anything else after Yoán Moncada homered in the second.
"We had a couple of opportunities in which he left us stranded out there," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He worked through it. He's been around. He was able to navigate and did a nice job of keeping us from doing a whole lot of damage."
Rendon did his part to spark Washington's comeback. The third baseman belted a two-run double in the third, then smacked a three-run homer in the fifth to chase former teammate Reynaldo López (3-6) and give the Nationals a 6-5 lead.
Reliever Josh Osich surrendered back-to-back doubles before Víctor Robles belted a two-run homer to make it 9-5. Washington's six runs in the fifth were its most in any inning this season.
Sean Doolittle recorded the final two outs for his 13th save in 15 opportunities.
López, who was acquired from Washington in December 2016 and was facing the Nationals for the first time, is 0-2 with a 12.83 ERA in his last three starts.
"He's just not being able to command right now as well as we would like him to," Renteria said.
Strasburg struck out six as he improved to 100-55. The right-hander earned a victory while allowing more than four runs for the first time in his career.
"I think it's a great personal accomplishment," Strasburg said. "Wins and losses, as much as you like having them next to your name, that's a team thing. It's just great that this was such a big team win and they were able to pick me up for that 100th."