Strasburg allows no hits, strikes out 7 in latest 6-inning stint at Triple-A Syracuse

Strasburg in Triple-A start: No hits, 6 innings

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It almost seems too easy for Stephen Strasburg.

The 21-year-old pitching sensation, the top pick of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals, threw six no-hit innings on Wednesday night against the Norfolk Tides in his second start for the Syracuse Chiefs, who won 4-0.

He threw 79 pitches, 55 for strikes, struck out seven, and walked one in facing 19 batters, one over the minimum, before departing with a no-hitter intact.

Strasburg, who got his second Triple-A win, went to three-ball counts on just four batters and lowering his earned-run average to 1.06 in seven minor-league starts.

In the first inning, Strasburg threw 15 pitches, 10 for strikes. He issued a two-out walk to Jeff Salazar on a 95 mph fastball but got lefty-swinging Josh Bell on a soft flyout to left to end the inning.

Tides second baseman Scott Moore was Strasburg’s first strikeout victim, unable to react to an 81 mph curveball on a 1-2 offering in the second. Strasburg then induced both shortstop Robert Andino and first baseman Michael Aubrey to ground out to first — Aubrey on a 97 mph fastball on a 3-0 pitch — to end the inning.

Norfolk right fielder Blake Davis led off the third by hitting a hard one-hopper on an 0-2 pitch that glanced off shortstop Pedro Lopez’s glove for an error. Davis was caught stealing and Strasburg struck out Adam Donachie looking at an 80 mph curveball and leadoff hitter Joey Gathright looking at a 98 mph fastball over the inside corner.

Strasburg retired the side in order in the top of the fourth on 16 pitches, getting his fourth strikeout when Salazar could only wave at an 83 mph curve.

The Tides went down in order again in the fifth as Strasburg registered two more strikeouts. Moore went down on three pitches, the last a 95 mph fastball across the middle of the plate, and Aubrey looking at an 82 mph curve.

Tides lefty Troy Patton held the Chiefs scoreless through the first four innings, but Syracuse finally broke through in the fifth on Kevin Mench’s RBI single and a bases-loaded triple by Josh Whitesell for a 4-0 lead.

Strasburg finished his impressive stint by getting Gathright to swing futilely at an 81 mph curve on an 0-2 delivery.

In five starts at Double-A Harrisburg, Strasburg went 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts, striking out an Eastern League-high 27 and walking six in 22 innings. He ranked first in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio and strikeouts per nine innings.

A franchise-record crowd of 13,777 turned out for Strasburg’s debut, but despite clear skies and a gametime temperature around 50 degrees, only 6,702 fans came out Wednesday night.

The Nationals are expected to keep Strasburg in the minors until early next month for financial reasons. Strasburg, who starred at San Diego State, signed a $15.1 million, four-year contract with Washington last August.