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Peavy, Giants Top Strasburg, Nats In NLDS Opener

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg had two years of pent-up playoff energy to unleash, and he came out hot.

The radar gun showed mostly 97s and 98s in the first inning of his postseason debut. There was even a 99. His fastball had lost a little bit of sizzle this season, but this was more like the rookie who dazzled the majors in 2010.

Only, he didn't dazzle.

The San Francisco Giants appeared to have a game plan for the Washington Nationals ace: hit him up the middle. All eight hits against the big right-hander were singles and six went to center field, usually bounding innocently between a converging second baseman and shortstop.

The Nationals needed something close to perfection from Strasburg because his San Diego pal Jake Peavy was spinning a masterpiece for the Giants. Instead, Strasburg was flawed just enough in Friday's 3-2 loss in the opener of the best-of-five NL Division Series.

Strasburg could claim that he lost because he didn't get any support, from both the Nationals' bats and gloves. His final line looked more than fine: five innings, eight hits, two runs (one unearned because of a passed ball), one walk and two strikeouts. He threw 58 of his 89 pitches for strikes and was pulled after giving up back-to-back hits — yep, both to center — to lead off the sixth.

The Nationals managed only two hits against Peavy, an infield single by Bryce Harper to open the fifth and a pinch-hit double from Nate Shierholtz to start the sixth. Two batters couldn't advance Shierholtz, but Jayson Werth's leadoff walk prompted manager Bruce Bochy to go to the bullpen.

Adam LaRoche drew a walk in a lefty-lefty matchup against Javier Lopez, but Ian Desmond struck out swinging against rookie Hunter Strickland.

Harper got the Nationals on the board with an upper-deck home run off Strickland to lead off the seventh, then Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a shot to the home bullpen two batters later.

But Washington failed to push home the tying run in the eighth after singles by Anthony Rendon and LaRoche put runners on first and second with one out. Desmond struck out — he finished 0 for 4 with 2Ks and left six runners left on base — and Harper followed with a fielder's choice to end the threat.

Strasburg didn't pitch when the Nationals made the playoffs two years ago because he was shut down early, having hit an innings limit in his first full season after elbow surgery. He wasn't happy about it, and fans were left to wonder if the outcome would have been different had he been available for what turned out to be a five-game series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Strasburg went 14-11 this season with a 3.14 ERA and tied for the NL lead in strikeouts with 242, and there was little doubt he would get the Game 1 start vs. the Giants.

He gave up single runs in the third and fourth innings, but the third included an unwise decision by first baseman LaRoche to throw to second on a sacrifice bunt attempt — the runner was ruled safe after a video review — and a passed ball by Wilson Ramos. Three Giants hits in the fourth made the score 2-0.

Strasburg then threw seven consecutive balls to open the fifth and then hit a batter with an 0-2 pitch, but he got out of the inning by striking out Pablo Sandoval with a 97 mph fastball and getting Hunter Pence to pop out to first.

A nice job for a first appearance on the postseason stage. Just not quite enough.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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