SAN DIEGO -- Stephen Strasburg had quite the homecoming. Pitching in front of about 50 family members and friends, Strasburg lasted a career-high eight innings against his hometown Padres to snap a seven-start winless streak, and Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche homered to lead the Washington Nationals to a 6-2 victory against San Diego on Thursday night. "Its easy pitching in front of a lot of loved ones," Strasburg said. "Its just another place to me, to be honest. Its my hometown. Im an Aztec. But I look forward to pitching anyplace in the big leagues. Its kind of a dream come true." Strasburgs 54th big league start was his first professional appearance at Petco Park. The big right-hander went to high school in suburban Santee and pitched for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at San Diego State before the Nationals took him with the first overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft. He pitched twice at Petco Park for SDSU. "I heard a lot of Welcome home and a lot of Go Aztecs out there. Its great. Im just glad they remembered me." He allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits while striking out four and walking three. He got the final out of the eighth on his 117th pitch. Strasburg had never thrown a pitch in the eighth inning of a big league start until he faced Everth Cabrera on Thursday night. Strasburg said he had been looking forward to "just getting deep in the ballgame, getting used to that, getting into the routine of how youre bodys going to feel the next day and learning how to recover and getting ready to doing it again." Strasburg (2-5) had gone seven innings 10 times, including three this year. He said he was happy manager Davey Johnson let him go back out for the eighth. "Im just glad he wasnt waiting for me at the top step after the seventh," Strasburg said. "I went out there in the eighth and I got the first out and it was like, All right, so this is what it feels like. I trust Daveys judgment and obviously he saw that my stuff was still there. He had the trust in me to go out there and get it done." Strasburg was supposed to pitch at Petco Park last year but a rainout pushed that start back. "I thought he pitched a heck of a ballgame," Johnson said. "It was the first time hes ever gone eight innings. It was a good homecoming for him. I liked it. I didnt think he was as sharp as he usually is, but it was a good ballgame. It was nice to see some offence coming up to give him some run support." Strasburg earned his first victory since beating Miami on opening day. In Strasburgs only other appearance against the Padres, he lasted just four innings in a 6-1 loss at Washington on May 15, 2012. Strasburg held the Padres scoreless through four innings and allowed only one run in the fifth despite loading the bases with one out. "He kept the ball down for the most part," San Diegos Yonder Alonso said. "We had the bases loaded there and we couldnt get it done." Harper, back in the lineup three nights after running full-on into the scoreboard in right field at Dodger Stadium, hit a monster shot estimated at 431 feet to straightaway centre field on the first pitch he saw from Tyson Ross with two outs in the seventh. Harpers homer nearly reached the base of the batters eye. It was his 11th. Harpers violent collision with the wall at Dodger Stadium left the 20-year-old slugger with 11 stitches in his chin and a sore body. Harper said he felt a little better but his whole left side was still sore. He played left field and batted third. LaRoche hit a two-run homer into the sandy play area beyond the fence in right-centre off Edinson Volquez (3-4) with one out in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. It was his fifth. The Nationals added three runs off Volquez in the fifth, on a two-run single by Ryan Zimmerman and an RBI single by Steve Lombardozzi. Volquez allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, struck out seven and walked four. San Diegos Jedd Gyorko led off the fifth with a double that caromed off the base of the stands in left and Alexi Amarista walked. With one out, pinch-hitter Kyle Blanks hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, whose throw to second sailed over Steve Lombardozzi for an error that loaded the bases. Everth Cabreras groundout brought in a run before Strasburg struck out Will Venable. "He worked his way out of that jam," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We tried to get a little closer. He made a couple of pitches to minimize the damage and that got him through the middle part of the game." Chris Denorfia hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth. NOTES: Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, known as "Johnny Football," threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He put a football twist on it by dropping back, scrambling and tossing it to Mark Kotsay, who caught it behind his back. Manziel also took two rounds of batting practice, with mixed results. The bat went flying out of his hands on his first swing, but he later hit a ball off the right-field wall at Petco Park. Manziel took BP while wearing loafers. ... Manziel is in town to work with quarterbacks coach George Whitfield Jr. "He came out here last year as a third-stringer and now he comes out here as a Heisman Trophy winner," Whitfield said. ... Manziel and Padres RHP Burch Smith have known each other since they were kids growing up in Tyler, Texas. Manziel said Smith once pulled a prank on him by locking him a batting cage. ... Johnson, who also went to Texas A&M, chatted up Manziel during batting practice. ... Manziel threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels. ... Padres LF Carlos Quentin missed the game to be with his wife, Jeane, who gave birth to their first son, Clark. A.J. Green Bengals Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Germaine Pratt Jersey . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. http://www.bengalsrookiestore.com/Bengals-Germaine-Pratt-Jersey/ . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Renell Wren Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Ryan Finley Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Tommy Oar has declared Brisbane Roar will be up for the fight when they host early A-League pacesetters Perth Glory on Sunday.After a scratchy start to the season, the Roar notched their first win with a 1-0 result over Central Coast in Gosford at the weekend.The Glory are second on the ladder and undefeated following a stunning 3-2 win away to Melbourne City - the game in which coach Kenny Lowe earned a two-match touchline ban for abusing a referee.Lowe bristled in his post-match press conference at the suggestion Perth were overly physical, but theres no doubt his battle-hardened side has combined tactical smarts with a determined on-ball presence to good effect this season.Oar is expecting a typically unapologetic performance from the Glory, but said Brisbane will look to play the game on their terms.Theyve got a lot of experience, a lot of big boys, he told reporters on Tuesday.For us, the focus will be purely on our style of play.Suncorps quite a big pitch, weve got a lot of agile, nimble players and I think if we play to the way we know we can, we can kind of avoid thhe physical battles.ddddddddddddBut theres no doubt, at the same time, well be up for the fight as well.The Roar and Glory met twice during the pre-season - first in an FFA Cup round of 32 clash at Ballymore, which fell 2-0 to Perth, and then again last month in a behind-closed-doors trial match won 4-0 by Brisbane.Perth could regain star trio Rhys Williams, Adam Taggart and Shane Lowry, who all missed the win over City at AAMI Park but are in contention to return this week.Oar, meanwhile, is slowly building up confidence and fitness as he looks to get his international career back on track.Having pulled the plug on his career in Europe to re-join the Roar earlier this year, the fringe Socceroo winger is yet to truly dazzle in his second A-League stint but believes he will hit his stride soon enough.The most important thing for me this season is just to get some match fitness under my belt and as the season goes on, my form will improve, he said. 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