He is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three starts against Philadelphia this season, and in nine career outings against the Phillies has gone 6-1 with a 2.36 ERA.
Advertisement
Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning and he was dominant through eight as the Washington Nationals continued their mastery of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night.
They’re also 12-2 in their last 14 games in Philadelphia, are 4-0 in Scherzer’s last four road starts versus the Phillies, and are 6-1 in his last seven starts overall versus Philly.
“Felt good”, said Howard, “but I was able to make the adjustment”. With its seventh victory in nine games, NY remained 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the league’s second wild card.
The Nationals have run away with the NL East, and Scherzer may have just stamped his mark on the most coveted award a pitcher can win. Washington is idle Thursday for its first day off since August 11.
Each night in the 2016 baseball season, we’ll run down the top news, facts and highlights from action around Major League Baseball. They have dropped their last eight games to first-place Washington, which matches the team record for consecutive losses vs. the Nationals/Expos franchise.
Yet before the game manager Pete Mackanin hinted Howard will likely be seeing a bit more bench time, as he wants to see what he has in Tommy Joseph for the season’s final month. “We’re just not getting hits. When you start hitting a couple, you think about it”, Baker said.
“He had gotten me before so I definitely wanted to go after him”, Morgan said.
Shawn Kelley got the only batter he faced, Maikel Franco, to ground out to end the game for his seventh save. Marc Rzepczynski tossed a flawless eighth and Mark Melancon finished off the four-hitter. He went 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in four appearances with the Nationals.
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game for a reason”, Howard said. Ramos battled back before eventually lining a 3-2 pitch into right field to score Rendon and end the night for Morgan.
Phillies starter RHP Jerad Eickhoff tossed six innings of three-run baseball on five hits and three walks allowed spanning 97 pitches (60 strikes). He retired 13 straight at one point and produced nine groundball outs.
“He did a great job with his offspeed stuff and really located extremely well”, Mackanin said. The best I’ve seen him – probably ever.
Morgan credited veteran catcher A.J. Ellis for helping him simplify the game plan.
“It’ll happen”, Morgan said at Citi Field on Saturday night.
The Nationals have outscored the Phillies 45-18 over the course of their eight-game winning streak, holding Philly hitters to a.176/.229/.302 line against over those eight games. The Nationals, however, won for just the third time in nine games overall.The Phillies lost for the third time in four games and were shut out for the seventh time this season.Roark, 5-1 in his last seven outings, went seven unblemished innings to improve to 14-7 this season.
It was his eighth homer in August, tying a career-high.
Just one year ago – the date was June 26, 2015, to be precise – Scherzer carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. He struck out at least 10 for the 12th time this season – a Nationals record. Two nights after coming up with a whopping four hits against Tanner Roark and company, and one night after scrapping together three hits off Max Scherzer, the Phillies all but handed the brooms over to the guys in the visiting dugout before they departed town.
Advertisement
Nationals: Baker gave rookie OF Trea Turner the day off to rest. He now has 12 10-strikeout games this season, the most in Major League Baseball.
