6-4-3 double play. One inning later,

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NEW YORK -- Stephen Strasburg wants to be treated like one of the guys: with no limits on his pitching. Dont a Hightower Jersey . The 23-year-old phenom got his wish Wednesday. The Washington Nationals let their young ace go past 100 pitches for the first time in the major leagues and he worked his way out of a two-on, one out jam in the sixth inning of a one-run ballgame Wednesday. "I was going to hold him to 100 pitches but I didnt know who to go to to get out of the jam," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said after a 4-0 victory over the New York Mets. "I probably wouldve had to strangle him to get the ball to get him out of the game." Strasburg threw 108 pitches in outlasting Johan Santana for six innings in a marquee matchup of aces on the mend, and the Nationals bullpen made the lead stand up on the 50th anniversary of the Mets first game. Meeting in a blustery, chilly matinee, Strasburg (1-0) and Santana got off to an erratic start but settled into a duel between pitchers coming back from major arm operations. Strasburg allowed two hits and struck out nine in helping the Nationals take the final two games of the three-game series against their division rival with stellar pitching -- Ross Detwiler shut down the Mets on Tuesday night. Strasburg threw 99 pitches in his eighth big league start in July 2010, when his callup to the big leagues captivated baseball, but he had elbow ligament-replacement surgery two months later and missed almost all of 2011. He is being kept on an innings limit of about 160 this season. "By no means in the back of my head was I thinking, How many pitches was I at?" he said. I wanted to go out there and keep the team in the ballgame as long as I could." Santana (0-1) allowed five hits in five-plus innings but his wild pitch gave Washington a 1-0 lead in the second inning of a game that lasted 3 hours, 36 minutes. New York had only three hits and Mets pitchers combined to walk 10 and hit one batter. Ryan Mattheus, Sean Burnett and Henry Rodriguez each pitched a scoreless inning for a Nationals bullpen that is without closer Drew Storen (elbow). New Yorks bullpen gave up two bases-loaded walks and an RBI grounder to Chad Tracy in the eighth. By that time, much of the announced crowd of 34,614 had left. The 33-year-old Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, was making just his second start in 19 months after left shoulder surgery. His operation was about two weeks after Strasburgs in September 2010. Santanas fastball was clocked at about the same speed (a high of 90 mph, reached once) as the 23-year-old phenoms changeup (89 mph). Strasburgs fastball peaked at 98 mph. Strasburg gave up a single to his first batter, Ruben Tejada, and walked Daniel Murphy in a frustrating 26-pitch first inning. After starting the second with a walk, he found better command of his curveball and went on a run of retiring 10 in a row until hitting Ronny Cedeno with a pitch with one out in the fifth. "I was really concerned early because he was pitching backward. He was using a lot of changeups, back-to-back changeups, curveballs, even cutting his fastball," Johnson said. "He got straightened out in the third inning and started pitching like he can." Said Strasburg: "I have four out pitches. Its just a matter of commanding them." Ike Davis singled in the sixth to end an 0-for-18 start. That was just the second hit for the Mets, who wore their white uniforms instead of their traditional pinstripes for the anniversary game. Santana needed 27 pitches to get through the first. In the second, he bounced a slider in front of the plate that went to the backstop, allowing Mark DeRosa to score. DeRosa singled leading off the inning and had gone to third on Xavier Nadys single to right. Santana retired 10 in a row, striking out four straight at one point, before allowing back-to-back hits in the fifth. "Im very happy at this stage," Mets manager Terry Collins said, "and five days from now youll see him again." Despite having thrown 93 pitches through five innings, Santana was allowed to bat with a runner on first and one out. He struck out. Santana then walked Jayson Werth with his 99th pitch -- 56 were strikes -- leading off the sixth. He was lifted for Manny Acosta. "I was able to compete and I feel good," Santana said. "I told (Collins) I felt good and he let me go back out there. I didnt come through, but at least I was able to warm up and come back out again. So thats a good sign." NOTES: Roger Craig threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Craig started the Mets opener in 1962 at St. Louis, an 11-4 loss. ... Collins was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Larry Vanover in the seventh inning. ... The Mets drew 197,672 for their first homestand this year, up from 184,429 for their first six home games last year. ... Johnson had no new information on Storen (elbow) and slugger Michael Morse (back). He said tests on Morse, who had a setback in a minor league rehab game, were sent to Dr. James Andrews. Storens agent says the pitcher had surgery to remove a bone fragment from his pitching elbow. Agent Brodie Van Wagenen of CAA Sports said Wednesdays procedure went as expected. ... Collins said he wouldnt be surprised to see 3B David Wright (broken pinkie finger) in the lineup Friday. Tom Brady Youth Jersey . Now that qualifies as fear mongering, but considering how entrenched both the league and the players association are with less than 10 days until the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement, sources on both sides are accepting the loss of another season as a possibility. Nate Solder Jersey . The 34-year-old Grimsby, Ont., native won her semi-final match on Day 13 of London 2012 over Colombias Jackeline Renteria Castillo 1-0, 1-0. Against the upstart Renteria Castillo, Verbeek showed her experience in a close first round, finding an opening in last 20 seconds to push her 26-year-old opponent through the passive zone for the only point of the round. www.officialnewenglandpatriotsgear.com/vince-wilfork-jersey . Things have changed quite a bit since then. The veteran right-hander took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before settling for a two-hitter as the San Diego Padres beat the Pirates 5-0 for their 11th straight win in Pittsburgh. Patrick Chung Jersey . The fine is reportedly in the range of $250,000. "The Detroit Red Wings organization and the League agree that the comments made by Mr. Devellano are neither appropriate, nor authorized, nor permissible under the Leagues By-Laws," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. Stevan Ridley Womens Jersey . Its the fourth career win for Peters, who overtook Ron Hornaday Jr. with 10 laps left to become the third pole-sitter to win a trucks race in four events in Iowa. WASHINGTON -- The way Tyler Colvin has been hitting lately, no pitcher appears capable of nullifying his torrid bat. Not even Stephen Strasburg. Colvin became the first player to homer twice off Strasburg in the same game, and the Colorado Rockies beat Washington 5-1 Friday night to end the Nationals four-game winning streak. Colvin hit a solo shot in the second inning and a two-run drive in the fourth. The first one came on a 0-2 fastball and the second on a 3-2 changeup. "I got lucky right there," Colvin said. "He got two-strike counts on me and he gave me something I could handle and was able to put a good swing on it." Colvin also singled in the sixth off Strasburg and hit a fly ball to the warning track against Ryan Mattheus in the eighth. "This is a guy that were very proud of," manager Jim Tracy said. "I dont know that you can swing much better than hes swinging it right now." Over his past five games, Colvin is 7 for 16 with five homers and 10 RBIs. This was his first appearance against Strasburg, but against Washington this season hes 10 for 17. "If you throw a mistake, hes going to hit it just like any other guy in the league," Strasburg said. "For some reason, weve been making more mistake pitches to him than the other guys." Dexter Fowler also connected for the Rockies, who had scored only nine runs in their previous five games. Drew Pomeranz (1-3) gave up one hit over 6 1-3 scoreless innings -- a bloop to centre by Bryce Harper in the fourth. Strasburg (9-4) allowed three runs, two earned, and eight hits in six innings. The All-Star struck out six and walked one, but lost a third straight start for the first time in his three-year career. "Its not a good feeling, but what can you do?" Strasburg said. "You can only go out there and give it everything you have and try to keep the team in the ballgame, but sometimes its not going to work out." In his previous start, Strasburg lasted only three innings before being removed because of heat-related issues in Atlanta. In this one, his fastball reached 98 mph in 96-degree temperatures, and Colvin was more of hindrance than the weather. "I thought he threw the ball well," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "He made two mistakes tto Colvin. Julian Edelman Jersey. " Strasburg was outperformed by a pitcher on a last-place team making his 11th career start and in search of his third major league win. Pomeranz walked two and struck out six against the team with the best record in the NL and an offence that scored 32 runs in its previous four games. His plan was simple: throw a slew of fastballs on either corner of the plate. "I was locating it, putting it in the right place," the left-hander said. Washingtons Ian Desmond said, "I think a lot of guys are going to go home and dream about fastballs tonight." It was Pomeranzs second start since being recalled from the minors. In his previous outing, he gave one run, none earned, and two hits over six innings in a 2-0 loss to San Diego. "Not that he wasnt good last Sunday against the Padres, but tonight was spectacular," Tracy said. Washington was blanked through eight innings and finished with five hits. In the ninth, after Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo homer off Rex Brothers and the Nationals got two runners on base, Rafael Betancourt got three outs for his 14th save. Colvin put the Rockies up 1-0 in the second inning with a second-chance home run. After Washington catcher Jesus Flores dropped a foul popup for an error on Strasburgs first pitch to Colvin, the slugger drove a 0-2 pitch into the second level of seats in right field. "Dumb pitch," Strasburg lamented. With a runner on second in the Colorado fourth, Colvin masterfully worked the count from 1-2 to full before hitting the ninth pitch of the at-bat into the front row of the seats in right-centre. In the fifth, the Rockies got runners on the corners with one out before Marco Scutaro bounced into a 6-4-3 double play. One inning later, Colorados Wil Nieves hit into a double play with the bases loaded and one out. Fowler made it 4-0 in the seventh with his 11th home run, a drive off Tom Gorzelanny, and Michael Cuddyer added a sacrifice fly in the eighth. NOTES: New Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Nationals LHP Gio Gonzalez strives for his 12th win Saturday. The Rockies will counter with Jeff Francis, whos seeking to win a third straight start. ... Zimmerman has five HRs in his Past 12 games. ' ' '