◆ Scherzer gives Nationals 2nd gem.
ST. LOUIS — Max Scherzer drifted off the mound, his feet chopping into the grass, his hands ready to punch the air, when Yadier Molina’s bounce seemed headed right for Trea Turner’s glove.
It was all Scherzer needed to polish off the best postseason start of his career. And when it went right, when the double play was turned and the seventh inning over, Scherzer offered a quick burst of emotion before straightening up. He rolled his shoulders while turning toward the dugout. He walked in a laser-straight line, his eyes fixed on nothing, and arrived there as the second Washington Nationals starter to shut down the
St. Louis Cardinals in this series.
The Nationals won again, this time 3-1, after Scherzer allowed just one run on one hit while fanning 11.
He was only outdone by Aníbal Sánchez’s 7⅔ scoreless innings Friday night. Both righties allowed only one hit. Both rolled the Cardinals’ lineup into a ball and tossed it out of sight.
The Cardinals can’t score, or activate their dangerous running game, if they don’t have base runners. That’s the simple way to explain Washington’s yawning 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.
The Nationals’ overall pitching strategy isn’t a secret. It’s more so in the open for everyone to see. They entered Game 2 with five postseason wins since Oct. 1. They recorded 138 in those victories — counting a 10-inning defeat of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLDS — and all but two of them were recorded by just six pitchers: Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Sánchez, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson. The goal is to avoid middle relievers at all costs. The question, though, is just how long the Nationals can keep this up?
They did for another day. Scherzer made sure of it. Doolittle, Corbin and Hudson then notched the last six outs of the bullpen. Corbin was even used as a lefty-lefty specialist to get out Kolten Wong in the ninth. The Nationals did know, coming in, that this series would be different than the last round. There are more games. There are, in turn, fewer chances to innovate.
Scherzer spent the NL Division Series pacing around the dugout, hands on his hips, basically begging Manager Dave Martinez for an inning out of the bullpen. The 35-year-old threw 109 pitches in Game 4, deadening his arm, and was still trying to face a batter or two when the Nationals were close to clinching. He’s wired to do whatever it takes. He’s also aware when situations change.
“You can’t be coming out of the pen in the same form or fashion unless you’re not going to be making your start,” Scherzer said Friday afternoon, denying that he would lobby to relieve against the Cardinals. “For me, it’s probably just pitch Game 2 and then wait for my next start.”
So there he was about 24 hours later, stepping through the shadows of a sun-drenched afternoon, then using those shadows to dominate.
Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright did the same. There was a straight line of shade cutting through the infield when Scherzer first took the mound. The hitters were in the dark, making it harder for them to read the spin of each pitch, and letting Scherzer exploit that with a mix of fastballs, change-ups and breaking balls.