Nationals rebound to defeat Pirates

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Maybe Davey Johnson should hold all his team meetings on days Stephen Strasburg is pitching.

The Washington Nationals’ manager called a brief meeting to give his mildly slumping club a confidence boost and Strasburg responded with another brilliant performance to lift the Nationals to a 4-2 victory over the Pirates on Thursday.

“That’s a good night to have a team meeting, isn’t it?” Johnson said with a laugh.

Strasburg (3-0) struck out a season-high 13 as Washington snapped a three-game losing streak.

“When the stuff’s working like tonight, you’ve got to go out there and just throw it, and it doesn’t really matter what you throw,” Strasburg said.

Roger Bernadina and Adam LaRoche both homered in the sixth off Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia (1-3) to erase a two-run deficit. Henry Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Strasburg (3-0) lowered his ERA to 1.64 by overpowering one of baseball’s weaker lineups. He struck out seven straight batters at one point and for a moment it appeared he was on his way to a record-breaking night.

Pittsburgh somehow steadied itself long enough in the fourth inning to take the lead behind RBI singles from Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker.

Correia lacks Strasburg’s power and instead kept the Pirates in it with his precision. He cruised through the first five innings but wobbled just long enough in the sixth to give up the lead.

Bernadina led off the sixth with his first home run of the season to put Washington on the board. Rick Ankiel added some insurance in the ninth with a solo homer.