But Max Scherzer is once again the man of the hour.
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Of his 119 pitches, a remarkable 96 went for strikes, CBSSports.com reports.
A season removed from throwing two no-hitters, Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer tied the Major League Baseball record by striking out 20 batters in a game against his former team on Wednesday.
Also adding insult to injury for the Tigers is the fact that Roger Clemens’ second career 20-strikeout game in 1996 came against Detroit.
Manager Dusty Baker can only hope left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who joined the Nationals prior to the 2012 season, can give the team a lift when he takes the mound at home Friday against the Marlins in the opener of a four-game, three-day series. He credited a teammate for giving him a tip that led to the mighty feat: Stephen Strasburg, who recently signed a $175 million extension with the Nats, told him his 97 miles per hour fastball would be effective against the Tigers. Every last bit of it. Because that’s what whiffs can do. “And to be able to punch out 20, it’s sexy”.
He had just iced down his electric right arm, which just threw one of the best games in baseball history. “It won’t sink in right now, but it’s an awesome accomplishment”. And Michael A. Taylor was a defensive replacement in the outfield in the ninth and he was also on the field for the last out of both no-hitters for Scherzer in 2015 and for a no-hitter by Zimmermann.
Scherzer’s offspeed and breaking pitches became more effective toward the end of the game when his fastball started gaining top-end speed. “There’s something about 20 in this game”.
It was even huger given who it came against.
Six Detroit players had multiple strikeouts, with five of those (including star first baseman Miguel Cabrera) going down by way of the K three times.
“Those guys are unbelievable”.
Carlos Villanueva (1-0) worked one inning – the sixth – for the win, and Fernando Rodney pitched a ideal ninth for his ninth save of the season.
The downside of so regularly targeting the hitting zone is that Scherzer allowed two solo home runs, rare blemishes on otherwise dominant night.
But this level of efficiency is nothing new for Scherzer.
Scherzer gets the chance to break that record set by a fellow D.C. pitcher on Tuesday in NY against the Mets. One pitch later, when Upton waved at an 85-mph slider, the capital quaked.
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On he went to the eighth, with records in play and a lead to hold. With 2-out in the bottom half of the eighth, Rockies Nolan Arenado would hit his league leading 13th home run of the season to give the home team the win. 632 slugging percentage when it had been put into play, with seven of Scherzer’s nine home runs allowed coming on the four-seamer.
