Stephen Strasburg Hits HR and Pitches Well in 9-3 Nationals Victory over Orioles

Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals found some offense in Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles, scoring nine runs and ending Baltimore's five-game winning streak.

Strasburg pitched well aside from a shaky first two innings, earning the victory after going five innings and allowing just one earned run (three total runs). He struck out eight and walked one, while allowing just four hits.

His WHIP now stands at 1.02 and his ERA at 2.21.

The Nationals were able to get to the formerly undefeated Wei-Yin Chen, scoring six runs against the left-handed starter before he was pulled after 4.1 innings.

He is now 4-1 with a very respectable 3.35 ERA this season.

Danny Espinosa, leading off for the first time this season, had a successful 2-for-5 day, and one hit was a home run off of Dana Eveland.

Bryce Harper tripled in two runs in the third inning off of Chen, while Jesus Flores homered on his only hit of the ballgame, a fourth-inning shot off of Chen. 

The real story of the game was Strasburg, though.

As if his pitching performance wasn't enough, he connected in the fourth inning for his first career major league home run, a solo shot off of Chen.

He's no slouch with the bat, either. He's now hitting .375 in 2012 after his 2-for-2 performance. 

Of his six hits, he has four doubles and a home run.

The Nationals are now back on track, sitting at 24-17 and in second place behind the streaking Atlanta Braves in the NL East.