Scherzer comes through in pinch for Nationals
ATLANTA — Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer has had plenty of great moments with his arm as a three-time Cy Young Award winner.
Now he has delivered one with his bat, too.
Scherzer singled as a pinch hitter in the 14th inning and scored the tiebreaking run on Wilmer Difo’s triple, sparking the Washington Nationals to a 5-3 victory Saturday over the Atlanta Braves.
“For me to get in a tie game at a point and time where we needed to win against a team that’s playing really good baseball, I got an opportunity,” he said. “Holy cow. I got a hit and scored a run. That’s too cool. I never thought in a million years it would happen.”
In his third big league pinch-hit appearance, Scherzer singled up the middle against Miguel Socolovich (0-1) and sped home from first base on Difo’s two-out hit to right-center field.
Spencer Kieboom added an RBI single.
Scherzer touched off a dugout celebration after he scored.
“I just screamed,” Scherzer said. “I didn’t say any four-letter words. I’m usually pretty good for that — at least one, two, three or four of those — but I kept it pretty PG. That was a good outburst.”
Justin Miller (2-0) struck out five in three innings, facing the minimum, and Sean Doolittle got three straight outs for his 14th save in 15 chances. Washington’s bullpen has allowed two earned runs in its past 33 innings.
Jesse Biddle, the fifth Atlanta reliever, struck out eight of 13 batters faced, including Juan Soto with the bases loaded to end the 11th. He walked two in three innings.
“It was good to see,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “A lot of these guys work their way up the ladder. It’s games like that when you start giving him a little more high leverage situation.”
Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez faced the minimum through four innings, striking out five, before Nick Markakis hit a leadoff single in the fifth. Tyler Flowers singled and Johan Camargo homered for a 3-2 lead, his third home run this week and fifth this season. Soto tied the score with a seventh-inning homer off Sam Freeman.
Michael Taylor hit a two-run homer in the seven off Brandon McCarthy, who allowed four hits in six innings. McCarthy struck out seven and retired 15 of his final 17 batters.
Scherzer started getting ready to hit in the ninth, putting on his spikes, hitting off a tee and taking batting practice indoors. He estimated it’s been “a couple of years” since he scored from first.
“I’m not going to hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Scherzer said. “I know that. I’ve got a high school swing. I know it, but hey, it’s good enough to get the ball in play, and sure enough, something happens. With two outs, with the ball in the gap, you’ve got to score. Sure enough, that’s what happened.”
On the injury front, Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and right-handed pitcher Mike Soroka aren’t likely to come off the disabled list until the week of June 12, after Atlanta returns from a six-game trip to San Diego and Los Angeles.
Acuna, sidelined since last Sunday with a mild left ACL sprain and bruises to his knee and back, is expected to play at least two rehab games this week. Soroka, out since May 14 with a right shoulder strain, will make two more rehab starts. He pitched 3 2/3 perfect innings Friday at Class A Rome.