inches away for a birdie.My scoring has improved over the season. Now that the LET season is in full swing, the more I play, my game gets better. First time as pro, it is different, although the game is the s

WASHINGTON -- Watching Stephen Strasburg on the mound in 90-degree heat, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker recalled how he heard the right-hander would wilt in these situations.Nothing about Strasburgs outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night, or any other opponent this season, has resembled wilting. Strasburg is the first National League starting pitcher to begin a season 13-0 in more than 100 years, a recapturing of the dominance he showed early in his career before Tommy John surgery.Strasburg has won 16 consecutive decisions dating back to September and during that stretch has struck out 182 batters and walked 37. This season his 2.51 ERA is sixth in the majors, and his command of his pitches is reflected in the numbers.In my opinion this has been the best year Ive seen him pitch, catcher Wilson Ramos said through an interpreter. Hes been very effective attacking the zone, keeping the ball down. Hes been hitting his spots very well with all his pitches. Usually a starter that attacks the zone like that and doesnt miss his spots very much will usually has success like hes been having.Mixing his overpowering fastball with a cutter, curveball and change-up, Strasburg has thrown an impressive 66.4 percent of his pitches for strikes this season, and yet batters are hitting .195 against him with only 11 home runs in 17 starts.Perhaps the most impressive number is the zero in the loss column.He hasnt lost, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. Thats pretty hard to do up here. Its in late July and he hasnt lost a game. Whatever hes doing, hes probably going to continue it.Strasburgs 13 victories to open a season are tied with teammate Max Scherzer and Ron Guidry as the sixth-longest streak in major league history and mark the longest in the NL for a starter since Rube Marquard of the New York Giants went 18-0 in 1912.Asked if this felt like a 13-0 season, the 27-year-old didnt know how to answer.The results, I cant control, said Strasburg, who signed a $175 million, seven-year contract extension in May. Im trying to go out there and execute pitches and roll with the highs and lows. Its always going to be that way. You ask any veteran pitcher in the league, there are years where they feel like they really dominated all year and just didnt have the numbers to show for it and there are other years where they feel like they realty didnt pitch to the level they expected and they had all the numbers to show for it.There are tangible explanations for Strasburgs numbers, and Baker said it starts off the field. The veteran baseball man said the Nationals staff urged Strasburg to increase his work between starts.After an injury-filled 2015 that included a strained left trapezius muscle, a strained oblique and other tweaks that had little to do with pitching, Strasburg changed his workout approach. He may not work out more, but he does it differently.As Ive gotten older its not trying to go out there and lift the house in the weight room, Strasburg said. I think Ive just been trying to get back to square one, ready for the next start. Throwing that many pitches, doing that over and over again, it kind of takes a beating on your body, so were just trying to work with the training staff and identify what areas I need to work on to get feeling good for the next one.Strasburg missed two weeks this season with an upper-back strain, but that didnt slow him down. Since returning from the disabled list July 3, he has allowed just two earned runs on five hits and struck out 20 in 21 2/3 innings.Some of that dominance is mental, according to Ramos, who said Strasburg had the tendency in previous years to get down when things didnt go his way or the defense let him down. Ramos has talked to Strasburg extensively about letting his pitches work and the defense take care of things.We have a great team playing behind him and hes finally taken to that and hes pitched extremely well and the teams helped him out a lot, Ramos said. So far hes having a great year and his attitude is, I think, the biggest difference with the way hes going out there and just being aggressive -- a lot more aggressive than he has been in the last few years and I think thats made a big difference.Trey Lyles Jersey . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. DeMar DeRozan Jersey . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/George-Gervin-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Rudy Gay Spurs Jersey . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. DeMarre Carroll Spurs Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week.Aditi Ashok registered her best-ever finish on the Ladies European Tour as she rounded off the week with a sixth-placed finish at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana Femenino with a card of three-under 69 on Sunday.Aditi, still only 18, and playing her first season as a professional, bounced back from a first round 74 to bring in cards of 67, 75 and 69 to finish sixth. It bettered her previous best as a pro, which was Tied-9th earlier this month in Germany and her career-best of T-8 in Hero Indian Open 2012, when she was a 14-year-old amateur.Meanwhile, local talent Azahara Munoz (70), beat back a strong challenge from American Beth Allen (72) to become the first Spaniard to win her home Open. Munoz, who started the day one shot behind, fell two behind as Allen opened with a birdie. But the American faltered on the back nine with three bogeys, while Munoz held her nerve and won by a shot. Munoz totaled 10-under to Allens nine-under.Sure, I am pleased with the performance, said Aditi at the end of the week. Overall I felt I didnt play the front nine very well, as I dropped a few shots every day, but in the end it was a good week. I played well in Germany and now here, so I am looking forward to next event.On Sunday, Aditi, who was Tied-8th after the second round, opened with a bogey but got that shot back with a birdie on par-4 sixth. However, another bogey on ninth meant she turned in over par for the front nine for the third time in four days.dddddddddddd But she made up superbly on back nine. She birdied three times in four holes, on the 10th, 12th and 13th and then added a fourth one on par-5 16th. She almost had an eagle on 16th, as the ball caught the edge on her third shot and stopped inches away for a birdie.My scoring has improved over the season. Now that the LET season is in full swing, the more I play, my game gets better. First time as pro, it is different, although the game is the same. My long game has got better as the season has progressed. I got a new set at the start of the year and I got used to it in the off season, Aditi said.Aditi will next play in Lacoste Ladies Open de France, which is a limited field event.There were just 5-6 events till June-July and now in 2-3 weeks, I have played almost three tournaments. Rio (Olympic golf) was there, it was good, I was in Top-10 after first two days. That gave me a lot of confidence. Now two Top-10s. A lot of positives, I would say. Now the season is more packed, she said.Sophie Walker (71) and Georgia Hall (68) were tied third and Florentyna Parker (67) was fifth ahead of Aditi. ' ' '