Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg comes unraveled against Arizona Diamondbacks

Washington Nationals batters were unkind to Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Josh Collmenter on Monday.

So, to essentially return the favor, Diamondbacks hitters teed off on Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg the following night.

Arizona started out with a pair of runs in the first as Aaron Hill doubled to right center, scoring Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta.

The second inning was the only one that went well for the much-hyped Nationals pitcher at Chase Field, as he retired the side in order.

Ender Inciarte led off the third with his first home run of the year, but that would be Arizona’s only run of the frame, and the home team had a 3-1 lead at the time.

As Strasburg, the first overall pick of the 2009 amateur draft, took the hill in the fourth inning with his team trailing then by just one, the D-backs’ offense exploded, starting off with a Chris Owings triple and then back-to-back singles. Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa then bunted to try to move runners to second and third, but Strasburg failed to field the ball cleanly, and everybody was safe.

With the bases loaded, Inciarte hit a sacrifice fly to score one and moved a runner at third, and then Mark Trumbo blasted his fifth homer of the year, a three-run shot.

Strasburg’s night was over after just 3.1 innings, his second-shortest outing of the year. The 26-year-old right-hander allowed eight hits (including two homers) and walked one in that span while surrendering a season-high seven earned runs (eight total). Strasburg struck out three while throwing 72 pitches, and his ERA ascended from 4.73 to 6.06 with the poor showing.

The sixth-year pitcher has been up and down all year and is battling a shoulder injury, but his season hit a low point at Chase Field. His record fell to 2-4 as he was the first of three Nationals pitchers — including Sammy Solis and Matt Grace — to get pummeled on the evening.

Arizona had a season-high 14 runs by the end of the sixth inning, reaching home in five of the first six frames. The D-backs held on for a convincing 14-6 win, improving to 15-17 on the year and snapping Washington’s five-game winning streak.