WASHINGTON -- Whatever the opposite of an All-Star snub is, you could argue that Stephen Strasburg got one on Sunday. On Monday, he presented his counterargument.

In the Washington Nationals' 3-2 series-opening win over the Mets, Strasburg -- who was named to the National League All-Star team less than 24 hours earlier -- allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings. The dominant outing served as a gentle reminder that, for all the ritual hand-wringing over who got omitted from the All-Star Game, Max Scherzer isn't the only Washington hurler who deserves a trip to Miami next week.

As usual, when All-Star rosters were announced on Sunday evening, critics wasted no time honing in on who got snubbed and who got the converse of snubbed. Although the hot corner was the hot topic on the NL side -- with Anthony Rendon, Justin Turner and Kris Bryant on the outside looking in -- there were plenty of people perplexed over the pitching picks.

Of the six starting pitchers who got the nod, half of them were no-brainers: Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. All three of them have double-digit wins. All three of them rank inside the NL's top four in strikeouts, inside the top six in ERA and inside the top six in pitcher WAR. Not for nothing, they ranked 1-2-3 in WHIP. So yeah, that trio belongs in Miami. After that it gets a little foggy, though.

Although Strasburg entered this week with a shiny 9-2 record, his 3.51 ERA was merely 12th-best in the NL, and his 2.5 WAR ranked 13th. A former first overall pick known as one of the game's premier strikeout pitchers, he was tied for seventh in punchouts, and his 1.10 WHIP was sixth-best.

All numbers certainly worthy of All-Star consideration, but with Pittsburgh's Ivan Nova, Los Angeles' Alex Wood and Milwaukee's Chase Anderson (not to mention fellow Nat Gio Gonzalez) all having a solid first half of the season, you could make a case that Strasburg's spot -- and/or the other two spots given to starting pitchers Robbie Ray and Carlos Martinez -- coulda, shoulda been doled out differently.

But on Monday, Strasburg did everything in his power to show that his third All-Star selection was warranted. He was so good that his manager had to resist the instinct to use profanity in describing his hurler's effort.

"He threw the ... lights ... out of the ball," said Dusty Baker, hesitating midsentence as he seemingly searched for the right (and clean) word.

Regardless of which word Baker chose -- heck, snot, boogers, bananas, bejesus -- the point is that Strasburg was in top form. With the exception of the fourth inning, when he lost the strike zone and walked three batters in the same frame for just the third time in his career (oddly enough, two of those have come on a July 3 against the Mets), the 28-year old righty was in complete control, using his curveball a season-high 35 percent of the time to keep New York hitters off-balance.

"He had an outstanding breaking ball," said Baker of Strasburg, who lowered his ERA to 3.28 by the time he hit the showers, then watched as the Nationals got to New York's bullpen for three runs in the last two innings, culminating with a Ryan Raburn walk-off single. "He kept us in the game."

Just how effective was Strasburg? Monday marked just the second time in his career that he went at least seven scoreless innings and allowed two hits or fewer. Afterward, despite the timing of his outing relative to the Midsummer Classic, he was more focused on the Fall Classic.

"It's definitely an honor," Strasburg said, "but there's bigger, more team-oriented goals that I have. I want to keep doing what I've been doing and hopefully stay healthy and be there in the end, and have an opportunity hopefully to pitch in October."