Strasburg exits after 2 innings

It's not a good day to be an ace.

Washington Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg left Sunday afternoon's start against the Arizona Diamondbacks after two scoreless innings. He was replaced by reliever Matt Grace.

Strasburg's early departure comes the same day that Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw exited his start against the Atlanta Braves with right lower back tightness.

The Nationals don't release in-game updates, so Strasburg's status won't be known until later. Prior to leaving, the 29-year-old battled control issues, giving up three walks and throwing only 29 of his 51 pitches for strikes.

Entering Sunday's start, Strasburg was on a roll. In his past four appearances, he'd combined to a 2.25 ERA with only seven walks and 30 strikeouts, limiting batters to a .195/.263/.310 line.