The 21-year-old pitcher struck out eight batters and allowed two hits in 5-1/3 innings for his second win despite having some control issues and walking five batters.

The highly-touted Strasburg allowed just one run but was relieved in the sixth inning after walking consecutive batters to load the bases.

"It's good to experience this now," said Strasburg, who needed ground staff to fix the loose dirt on the pitching mound on two separate occasions so he could keep his traction.

"I was just slipping a little bit, but there are going to be games like that.

"I wasn't able to make the adjustments I needed to."

The Nationals gave Strasburg plenty of run support in the sixth as a two-run double from Ivan Rodriguez and a two-run triple by Ian Desmond gave Washington a 6-1 lead.

Strasburg struck out 14 Pittsburgh batters and allowed just four hits, no walks and struck out the final seven batters he faced before being taken out of the game in his major league debut last Tuesday. The atmosphere in his second start was again electric, with 32,976 fans watching in Cleveland.

After taking an early advantage, Washington stretched their lead to 9-1 when Roger Bernadina hit a two-run home run.

The Indians reduced the deficit with three runs in the ninth against Nationals reliever Miguel Batista.

"We put up 16 hits, we put nine runs, we played good solid defense," Desmond told reporters.

"We made the plays we had to make, and the bullpen came and dealt with it."