Nationals' Stephen Strasburg hits batter, catcher, umpire with same pitch

Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg managed to hit three people with the same pitch during a win against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The exchange occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning during the Nationals' 5-1 triumph on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Strasburg began the inning by allowing a solo home run to the Phillies' J.P. Crawford.

Then Jorge Alfaro walked up to the plate. Strasburg eyed the Phillies catcher before heaving in a 91.8-mph fastball. The pitch went inside on the Phillies backstop, grazing his left arm. It then hit Nationals catcher Matt Wieters in the mask before bouncing up and drilling home-plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in his mask.

Alfaro was issued a free pass to first base after being hit by the pitch, while Wieters and Wendelstedt were forced to shake it off.

Strasburg struck out Justin Bour and Cesar Hernandez, before forcing Rhys Hoskins to pop out to end the inning.

Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to get the Nationals on the board. Ryan Zimmerman made the lead 3-0 in the same inning by knocking in Anthony Rendon with an RBI single.

Zimmerman hit a solo shot in the fourth inning before Crawford went yard.

Nationals star rookie Juan Soto had the game's final run when he hit a solo bomb off of Phillies reliever Austin Davis in the top of the sixth inning.

Strasburg allowed five hits and one run while tossing nine strikeouts in seven innings to pick up his eighth win of the season.

The Nationals swept the series and host the Chicago Cubs at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.