NEU » lost his fourth straight decision in his previous sta

SAN DIEGO -- Stephen Strasburg had quite the homecoming. Pitching in front of about 50 family members and friends, Strasburg lasted a career-high eight innings against his hometown Padres to snap a seven-start winless streak, and Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche homered to lead the Washington Nationals to a 6-2 victory against San Diego on Thursday night. "Its easy pitching in front of a lot of loved ones," Strasburg said. "Its just another place to me, to be honest. Its my hometown. Im an Aztec. But I look forward to pitching anyplace in the big leagues. Its kind of a dream come true." Strasburgs 54th big league start was his first professional appearance at Petco Park. The big right-hander went to high school in suburban Santee and pitched for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at San Diego State before the Nationals took him with the first overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft. He pitched twice at Petco Park for SDSU. "I heard a lot of Welcome home and a lot of Go Aztecs out there. Its great. Im just glad they remembered me." He allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits while striking out four and walking three. He got the final out of the eighth on his 117th pitch. Strasburg had never thrown a pitch in the eighth inning of a big league start until he faced Everth Cabrera on Thursday night. Strasburg said he had been looking forward to "just getting deep in the ballgame, getting used to that, getting into the routine of how youre bodys going to feel the next day and learning how to recover and getting ready to doing it again." Strasburg (2-5) had gone seven innings 10 times, including three this year. He said he was happy manager Davey Johnson let him go back out for the eighth. "Im just glad he wasnt waiting for me at the top step after the seventh," Strasburg said. "I went out there in the eighth and I got the first out and it was like, All right, so this is what it feels like. I trust Daveys judgment and obviously he saw that my stuff was still there. He had the trust in me to go out there and get it done." Strasburg was supposed to pitch at Petco Park last year but a rainout pushed that start back. "I thought he pitched a heck of a ballgame," Johnson said. "It was the first time hes ever gone eight innings. It was a good homecoming for him. I liked it. I didnt think he was as sharp as he usually is, but it was a good ballgame. It was nice to see some offence coming up to give him some run support." Strasburg earned his first victory since beating Miami on opening day. In Strasburgs only other appearance against the Padres, he lasted just four innings in a 6-1 loss at Washington on May 15, 2012. Strasburg held the Padres scoreless through four innings and allowed only one run in the fifth despite loading the bases with one out. "He kept the ball down for the most part," San Diegos Yonder Alonso said. "We had the bases loaded there and we couldnt get it done." Harper, back in the lineup three nights after running full-on into the scoreboard in right field at Dodger Stadium, hit a monster shot estimated at 431 feet to straightaway centre field on the first pitch he saw from Tyson Ross with two outs in the seventh. Harpers homer nearly reached the base of the batters eye. It was his 11th. Harpers violent collision with the wall at Dodger Stadium left the 20-year-old slugger with 11 stitches in his chin and a sore body. Harper said he felt a little better but his whole left side was still sore. He played left field and batted third. LaRoche hit a two-run homer into the sandy play area beyond the fence in right-centre off Edinson Volquez (3-4) with one out in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. It was his fifth. The Nationals added three runs off Volquez in the fifth, on a two-run single by Ryan Zimmerman and an RBI single by Steve Lombardozzi. Volquez allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, struck out seven and walked four. San Diegos Jedd Gyorko led off the fifth with a double that caromed off the base of the stands in left and Alexi Amarista walked. With one out, pinch-hitter Kyle Blanks hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, whose throw to second sailed over Steve Lombardozzi for an error that loaded the bases. Everth Cabreras groundout brought in a run before Strasburg struck out Will Venable. "He worked his way out of that jam," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We tried to get a little closer. He made a couple of pitches to minimize the damage and that got him through the middle part of the game." Chris Denorfia hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth. NOTES: Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, known as "Johnny Football," threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He put a football twist on it by dropping back, scrambling and tossing it to Mark Kotsay, who caught it behind his back. Manziel also took two rounds of batting practice, with mixed results. The bat went flying out of his hands on his first swing, but he later hit a ball off the right-field wall at Petco Park. Manziel took BP while wearing loafers. ... Manziel is in town to work with quarterbacks coach George Whitfield Jr. "He came out here last year as a third-stringer and now he comes out here as a Heisman Trophy winner," Whitfield said. ... Manziel and Padres RHP Burch Smith have known each other since they were kids growing up in Tyler, Texas. Manziel said Smith once pulled a prank on him by locking him a batting cage. ... Johnson, who also went to Texas A&M, chatted up Manziel during batting practice. ... Manziel threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels. ... Padres LF Carlos Quentin missed the game to be with his wife, Jeane, who gave birth to their first son, Clark. Hydro Flask 18 Oz Wide Mouth . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Hydro Flask Canada . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. http://www.hydroflaskombrecanada.com/hydro-flask-straw-lid-canada.html . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Hydro Flask Coffee Canada . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Hydro Flask Wide Mouth Straw Lid Canada . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. WASHINGTON -- Pinch-hitter Stephen Drew hit a game-ending RBI triple in the ninth inning to give the Washington Nationals a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night.Anthony Rendon opened the bottom off the ninth with a single off reliever Kevin Quackenbush (6-4). Drew entered with one out and drove a pitch off the center-field scoreboard, and Rendon raced around the bases for the winning run.Jonathan Papelbon (2-2) allowed a leadoff double in the ninth before retiring three straight batters. San Diego left runners in scoring position in each of the last two innings.Max Scherzer struck out 10 over seven innings. Washingtons starter surrendered two runs and four hits, including a two-run homer to Ryan Schimpf.Edwin Jackson allowed two runs and six hits over six innings for the Padres.San Diego fell to 1-5 on its 10-game road trip. The Padres snapped a four-game skid with a 5-3 win Friday.Scherzer struck out three of the first five batters, but Schimpf struck back for the Padres in the second, turning on a 2-0 fastball for a towering drive deep over the right-field wall for a 2-0 lead. The homer was the 22nd allowed this season by Scherzer, most in the NL.The All-Star recovered and retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced. Since June 1, Scherzer is 5-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 10 starts.He struck out at least 10 batters for the eighth time this season and 44th over his career. Scherzer allowed one run over six innings with 10 strikeouts in a no-deccision at San Diego on June 18.ddddddddddddNL batting leader Daniel Murphys third-inning sacrifice fly cut San Diegos lead in half.Washington tied the score 2-2 in the fifth with a pair of doubles. Ben Revere stepped into the batters box 2 for 20 on the homestand before stroking the ball into the right-field corner, scoring Danny Espinosa.Travis Jankowski tripled with two outs in the eighth, but Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley ended the threat by striking out Wil Myers looking.TRAINERS ROOMPadres: RHP Tyson Ross (right shoulder inflammation), out since Opening Day, recently threw from 250 feet. His arm feels really good, Padres manager Andy Green said. Its still just taking time.Nationals: 1B Ryan Zimmerman (left ribcage strain) went 2 for 3 with a three-run homer Saturday for Class A Potomac in his third rehab game. Placed on the DL retroactive to July 7, Zimmerman is expected to rejoin Washingtons lineup Tuesday at Cleveland.UP NEXTPadres: LHP Christian Friedrich (4-6, 4.55) lost his fourth straight decision in his previous start, allowing four runs -- three earned -- over 5 1/3 innings during a 10-2 setback at St. Louis Monday.Nationals: RHP Lucas Giolito (0-0, 4.70), Washingtons top prospect, will be recalled from Tlost his fourth straight decision in his previous staeysauthenticmlb.com/]Wholesale Baseball Jerseys[/url] ' ' '