Stopper

Stopper is a term you don't hear that often anymore. I recall it back in the '70s and '80s as the description of a starting pitcher with the knack of halting losing streaks. Tuesday night's 8-1/3 inning performance by Stephen Strasburg certainly falls under that banner. He halted the Nationals slide and drew them even with the Astros and set up a winner-take-all game seven of the World Series.

After being treated like grandma's fragile china over the course of his 10 big league seasons -- who can forget the Nationals ending his 2012 season early, when, while healthy, they felt holding him to an innings limit was more important than advancing in the post-season --  Strasburg had the most prolific year of his career in 2019. He threw the most innings, struck out the most batters and won the most games. Tuesday, once over the 1st inning hiccups, he grew stronger as the night rolled on. He worked 8-1/3 innings, halting the big Houston bats and continuing the weird trend of this World Series. It's the first seven-game playoff ever in baseball (or the NBA or NHL) where the visiting team has won the first six games.

One more to go. And the Nats can thank Strasburg for getting them there.

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