Tanner boil: Nat fans 15; Strasburg next

WASHINGTON — Tanner Roark, a supporting member of a star-laden rotation, threw one of the best starts in Nationals history in a 2-0 victory against the Twins on Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park. The right-hander struck out a career-high 15 batters in seven innings, holding the Twins to a pair of hits while tossing a career-high 121 pitches.

“I was throwing four pitches to lefties and righties,” Roark said. “Keeping them guessing, keeping them uncomfortable up at the plate, trying to get ahead with strike one. In the first inning, that wasn’t really the case. So you really got to go after it and be aggressive, keep going at the hitters.”

• Dominant Roark records 15 K’s vs. Twins

Things don’t get any easier for the Twins on Sunday, as they now must face one of the Nationals’ aces, Stephen Strasburg, who is already 3-0 in three starts, with a 1.25 ERA and only 21 strikeouts.

Nationals go for the sweep behind Strasburg

The Nationals gave Roark an early lead with a two-run single by Ryan Zimmerman off Twins right-hander Phil Hughes in the first inning. Bryce Harper added a pair of doubles as the Nationals improved to 13-4, which matches the Cubs (who play Saturday night) for the best record in baseball.

Hughes settled down after the first and turned in a quality outing of his own. He allowed only three hits and no runs in his final six innings of work, but the Twins offense struck out 18 times.

“I was able to keep us close, but at the end of the day, you have to tip your cap to Tanner,” Hughes said. “He pitched outstanding.”

• Twins’ bats tie franchise record in strikeouts

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDRoark dominates: Roark shattered his career high for strikeouts by the fifth inning, in the second double-digit strikeout game of his career. Max Scherzer is the only Nationals pitcher to strike out more batters in a game (16 on June 14, …

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