Nationals reinstate Stephen Strasburg, place Dan Uggla on 15-Day DL with back spasms

As soon as last night's disheartening loss to the Rockies was over, Washington Nationals' skipper Matt Williams was on to the next game of three with Colorado in D.C.

"We had the lead, had it set up for our bullpen the way we want to have it set up and the guy that we want in there in the eighth inning for sure," he said. "It didn't go our way tonight, but we have to be ready for tomorrow."

Drew Storen's streak of 14 straight scoreless appearances ended when hot-hitting Rockies' slugger Carlos Gonzalez hit a grand slam into the right field bullpen to put the visitors up, 5-4.

"[Storen] made a mistake to a guy that's recently been really hot and has power," Williams said.

"So it's the game of baseball. You never know. So we look forward to [Stephen Strasburg] tomorrow and see if we can get two out of three from these guys."

Strasburg comes off the Disabled List tonight to make his first start in the majors since July 4th, when he left an outing against the San Francisco Giants after 3 ⅔ innings with what was later diagnosed as a left oblique strain.

In three starts before the injury, which followed close to a month on the DL for a neck/back issue, the 27-year-old, '09 no.1 overall pick was (2-0) with a 1.15 ERA and a .161/.217/.232 line against in 15 ⅔.

It was a nice rebound from the start of his 2015 campaign, which saw Strasburg go (3-5) in 10 starts with a 6.55 ERA and a .325/.377/.497 line against in 45 ⅓ innings pitched.

After dropping three to the Mets last weekend, two of four to the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this week and now the series opener with the Rockies, Williams was asked about how he keeps an even keel and how the last week has affected everyone?

"We don't look at it, we look at tomorrow," the second-year skipper said.

"Happy to have [Strasburg] back in the rotation. He's feeling good, so he's got the ability to go out and shut anybody down on any given day, so we hope for that and we'll prepare and see if we can get them tomorrow."

The Nationals made Strasburg's return from the DL official this afternoon.

In order to make room on the roster, the Nats placed Dan Uggla on the 15-Day DL with lower back spasms:

The #Nats have returned from rehab and reinstated RHP Stephen Strasburg from 15-day DL & placed 2B Dan Uggla on the 15-day DL w/back spasms.

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 8, 2015

• We talked about Storen's rough night, Strasburg's return and what bold move the Nationals might make next to turn things around: