Scherzer loses no-hit bid in 7th in Washington’s win
ST. LOUIS — Max Scherzer followed Anibal Sanchez’s near no-hitter with a try of his own and the stingy Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Saturday for a 2-0 lead in the NL Championship Series.
Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until Paul Goldschmidt led off the seventh inning with a single that left fielder Juan Soto played conservatively with a one-run lead. A day earlier, Sanchez held the Cardinals hitless until Jose Martinez had a pinch-single with two down in the eighth.
Sanchez and Scherzer also began the 2013 ALCS with consecutive no-hit bids of at least five innings for Detroit against Boston.
Scherzer, a St. Louis native who played college ball for the University of Missouri, struck out 11 and walked two in seven innings.
“He was dynamite. I mean his stuff was good, his changeup was really good today, utilized it well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He was locating his fastball early in the count, so he was good.”
Scherzer said he was focused on not giving up home runs.
“I’m really thinking don’t give up a solo shot. Just trying to work with (catcher Kurt Suzuki) and just navigate through this lineup,” Scherzer said. “Just stay in the moment, stay with Zuk and just keep your mind what we need to do. And he did a great job of sequencing them and we did a good job of just executing pitches.”
It doesn’t get any easier for St. Louis, either. Ace Stephen Strasburg gets the ball for the wild-card Nationals when the best-of-seven series moves to Washington for Game 3 on Monday night. Jack Flaherty pitches for the Cards.
St. Louis got another solid performance from Adam Wainwright, who struck out 11 in 71⁄3 innings.
But after getting only one hit in the opener, the Cardinals’ inconsistent lineup managed just three hits against Scherzer and the Washington bullpen.
“Can’t ignore the fact we have been shut down pretty much for two games in a row,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “We won’t make excuses for it. There’s a lot of variables to it. But the reality is we haven’t been able to get it done.
The NL Central champions got their first run of the series when center fielder Michael A. Taylor misplayed Martinez’s pinch-hit liner into an RBI double with two out in the eighth. But Dexter Fowler flied out on Sean Doolittle’s next pitch.
Patrick Corbin got the first out of the ninth before Daniel Hudson closed for his third save of the playoffs. The righthander was reinstated from the postseason paternity list before the game after he missed the series opener to be with his wife, Sara, for the birth of their third child.
Washington went ahead to stay when Taylor homered in the third. The Nationals added two more on Adam Eaton’s two-run double in the eighth.