Stephen Strasburg Stays Perfect As Nationals Beat Matt Harvey And Mets 7-4

Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 and the Washington Nationals hit three of its season-high five home runs off Matt Harvey in a 7-4 home victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.

Stephen Strasburg Stays Perfect As Nationals Beat Matt Harvey And Mets 7-4

Strasburg (8-0) allowed two runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander has five games this season with 10 or more strikeouts and 26 over his seven-year career.

Last season, Strasburg spent two stints on the disabled list and was 3-5 before rallying back. Strasburg is the third starter in franchise history to begin 8-0.

”There were definitely a lot of lows for me last year,” he said. ”I am definitely trying to learn from that, to try to ride the roller coaster and stay consistent.”

Mets right-hander Harvey, 27, seems to be struggling with similar issues. After going 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA last season, Harvey (3-7) has now had three straight terrible games.

”We’ve got to think what’s not just best for Matt, but what’s best for us moving forward at the moment,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. ”There are a lot of things to consider. We’re not going to make any rash judgments tonight. We’re going to sleep on it.”

Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon hit successive solo shots to put the Nationals up in the fourth inning, and Daniel Murphy added a two-run drive off his former teammate in the fifth to gain a 5-1 lead.

Ben Revere connected off Antonio Bastardo in the seventh and Wilson Ramos went deep against Jim Henderson in the eighth for Washington.

Asdrubal Cabrera and Eric Campbell homered for the Mets, who snapped a four-game winning streak. New York third baseman Ty Kelly went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in his major league debut.

Strasburg retired the first 10 batters, six of them by strikeout, before Cabrera homered into the Washington bullpen beyond the wall in right field. Campbell hit his first home run of the season in the ninth off Shawn Kelley.

Mets relievers had a run of 16 1/3 scoreless innings over five games before Bastardo gave up Revere’s first homer of the season.

Steven Matz (6-1, 2.81 ERA) will start for the Mets in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against Washington at Nationals Park. Matz has never lost a game on the road (5-) or played the Nationals.

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 24: Starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals works the first inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on May 24, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)