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Pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg taking his act on the road

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The Stephen Strasburg show is coming to Cleveland.

Although the Indians batters may not be jumping for joy at the prospect of facing the Washington Nationals pitcher who struck out 14 in his major league debut Tuesday night, it is definitely good news financially for a last-place ball club that is struggling to sell tickets.

The Nationals have confirmed that the 21-year-old Strasburg will start Sunday at Progressive Field. The Indians have sold 4,000 tickets to the game since last week, when it first seemed likely Strasburg would start in that game, and 1,000 since midnight, shortly after Strasburg’s seven-inning performance in a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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The only sellout for the Indians this season was on opening day. The team’s second-biggest crowd was only 25,531 in the 43,000-seat ballpark.

‘It’s creating a fan buzz around baseball,’ Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio said. ‘It’s something we’re excited about, to be able to play host to the young man’s first road start.’

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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