NEW YORK -- Stephen Strasburg wants to be treated like one of the guys: with no limits on his pitching. . The 23-year-old phenom got his wish Wednesday. The Washington Nationals let their young ace go past 100 pitches for the first time in the major leagues and he worked his way out of a two-on, one out jam in the sixth inning of a one-run ballgame Wednesday. "I was going to hold him to 100 pitches but I didnt know who to go to to get out of the jam," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said after a 4-0 victory over the New York Mets. "I probably wouldve had to strangle him to get the ball to get him out of the game." Strasburg threw 108 pitches in outlasting Johan Santana for six innings in a marquee matchup of aces on the mend, and the Nationals bullpen made the lead stand up on the 50th anniversary of the Mets first game. Meeting in a blustery, chilly matinee, Strasburg (1-0) and Santana got off to an erratic start but settled into a duel between pitchers coming back from major arm operations. Strasburg allowed two hits and struck out nine in helping the Nationals take the final two games of the three-game series against their division rival with stellar pitching -- Ross Detwiler shut down the Mets on Tuesday night. Strasburg threw 99 pitches in his eighth big league start in July 2010, when his callup to the big leagues captivated baseball, but he had elbow ligament-replacement surgery two months later and missed almost all of 2011. He is being kept on an innings limit of about 160 this season. "By no means in the back of my head was I thinking, How many pitches was I at?" he said. I wanted to go out there and keep the team in the ballgame as long as I could." Santana (0-1) allowed five hits in five-plus innings but his wild pitch gave Washington a 1-0 lead in the second inning of a game that lasted 3 hours, 36 minutes. New York had only three hits and Mets pitchers combined to walk 10 and hit one batter. Ryan Mattheus, Sean Burnett and Henry Rodriguez each pitched a scoreless inning for a Nationals bullpen that is without closer Drew Storen (elbow). New Yorks bullpen gave up two bases-loaded walks and an RBI grounder to Chad Tracy in the eighth. By that time, much of the announced crowd of 34,614 had left. The 33-year-old Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, was making just his second start in 19 months after left shoulder surgery. His operation was about two weeks after Strasburgs in September 2010. Santanas fastball was clocked at about the same speed (a high of 90 mph, reached once) as the 23-year-old phenoms changeup (89 mph). Strasburgs fastball peaked at 98 mph. Strasburg gave up a single to his first batter, Ruben Tejada, and walked Daniel Murphy in a frustrating 26-pitch first inning. After starting the second with a walk, he found better command of his curveball and went on a run of retiring 10 in a row until hitting Ronny Cedeno with a pitch with one out in the fifth. "I was really concerned early because he was pitching backward. He was using a lot of changeups, back-to-back changeups, curveballs, even cutting his fastball," Johnson said. "He got straightened out in the third inning and started pitching like he can." Said Strasburg: "I have four out pitches. Its just a matter of commanding them." Ike Davis singled in the sixth to end an 0-for-18 start. That was just the second hit for the Mets, who wore their white uniforms instead of their traditional pinstripes for the anniversary game. Santana needed 27 pitches to get through the first. In the second, he bounced a slider in front of the plate that went to the backstop, allowing Mark DeRosa to score. DeRosa singled leading off the inning and had gone to third on Xavier Nadys single to right. Santana retired 10 in a row, striking out four straight at one point, before allowing back-to-back hits in the fifth. "Im very happy at this stage," Mets manager Terry Collins said, "and five days from now youll see him again." Despite having thrown 93 pitches through five innings, Santana was allowed to bat with a runner on first and one out. He struck out. Santana then walked Jayson Werth with his 99th pitch -- 56 were strikes -- leading off the sixth. He was lifted for Manny Acosta. "I was able to compete and I feel good," Santana said. "I told (Collins) I felt good and he let me go back out there. I didnt come through, but at least I was able to warm up and come back out again. So thats a good sign." NOTES: Roger Craig threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Craig started the Mets opener in 1962 at St. Louis, an 11-4 loss. ... Collins was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Larry Vanover in the seventh inning. ... The Mets drew 197,672 for their first homestand this year, up from 184,429 for their first six home games last year. ... Johnson had no new information on Storen (elbow) and slugger Michael Morse (back). He said tests on Morse, who had a setback in a minor league rehab game, were sent to Dr. James Andrews. Storens agent says the pitcher had surgery to remove a bone fragment from his pitching elbow. Agent Brodie Van Wagenen of CAA Sports said Wednesdays procedure went as expected. ... Collins said he wouldnt be surprised to see 3B David Wright (broken pinkie finger) in the lineup Friday. [url=http://www.jerseyschinacheap.us.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . Chicago needs a point this afternoon in its finale versus the Detroit Red Wings if it wants a shot at repeating. You can see all the action on TSN at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt. . LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright refused to relax against a makeshift San Francisco Giants squad. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.com/NIKE-NFL-JERSEYS_SEATTLE-SEAHAWKS-JER... . -- Auburns Gus Malzahn has been named Home Depot Coach of the Year, and Washingtons Austin Seferian-Jenkins was selected the John Mackey Award winner for the nations outstanding tight end. [url=http://www.thepackersofficialonline.com/Packers-Dave-Robinson-Authentic-Jer... Robinson Womens Jersey . On Friday, the Argos and Rogers Centre announced theyve signed a lease agreement through Dec. .D. -- A University of North Dakota spokesman says the school still plans to drop its Fighting Sioux nickname despite the Legislature voting to order the school to keep it. Bridgeview, IL (Sports Network) - Interim coach Frank Klopas could not change the Chicago Fires fortunes in his debut Saturday night. Chicago settled for a 0-0 draw against Seattle Sounders FC, as its winless run stretched to 10 matches in Major League Soccer. Klopas replaced Carlos de los Cobos earlier this week after Chicago earned one win in its first 11 matches. But the Fires technical director and new interim head coach failed to deliver more than De los Cobos in his debut. Chicago (1-4-7) tied for the sixth time in its last seven matches, and for the seventh time this season. Seattle (5-4-6) tied for the sixth time this season, but it has lost just once in its last six games. The Fire started the season with a 1-1 draw at MLS Cup runner-up FC Dallas and defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-2 in the second week, but has not posted a win since that match at Toyota Park on March 26. Consecutive losses to Seattle Sounders FC, the expansion Portland Timbers, and the Los Angeles Galaxy followed, and the six ties over the next six weeks left Chicago with just nnine points from its first 11 games. [url=http://www.officialmanchestercity.com/authentic-john-guidetti-manchester-ci... Guidetti Manchester City Jersey. De los Cobos paid the price Monday, ending his stint with Chicago after just a little over one year, but Klopas learned against Seattle that there is still a lot of work to do. Diego Chaves and Dan Paladini each forced two saves from Seattle goalie Kasey Keller, who posted his fourth shutout of the season, but Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson was under more pressure and made two huge saves for his first shutout of the season. Johnson denied Seattles Lamar Neagle twice inside 10 minutes, the first on a point-blank header toward the lower-left corner and the second off a shot sent toward the upper-left corner that was just pushed over the bar. Keller was busier the rest of the night, as Johnson made just one more save in the final 80 minutes, but made his five saves without much trouble. Klopas will try to snap Chicagos skid Thursday at Sporting Kansas City, which will open Livestrong Sporting Park after playing its first 10 matches on the road. Seattle hosts Vancouver Whitecaps FC on June 11. ' ' '