Scherzer climbs K board as Nats blank Cardinals
Max Scherzer struck out nine in six innings to move up to No. 21 on the career Ks leaderboard, and Alex Avila drove in the game’s lone run with one of his two doubles, helping the Washington Nationals edge the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 on a windy Wednesday in Washington.
Scherzer (1-1) retired 12 of his last 13 batters, working in short sleeves as gusts of air topping 30 mph rippled his white jersey and sent napkins and other debris twirling around Nationals Park on a 50-degree late afternoon.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out Dylan Carlson swinging through a 93 mph fastball with his 109th and final pitch. The righty’s strikeout of Justin Williams to end the fourth gave Scherzer 2,814 for his career, moving him one ahead of Hall of Famer Mike Mussina. Next up: Mickey Lolich, whose 2,832 strikeouts rank 20th in MLB history.
It wasn’t easy early for Scherzer, who loaded the bases with one out in the first inning via a hit batter, infield single and walk, but got out of it by striking out Carlson and Matt Carpenter.
Scherzer needed 49 pitches just to get through two innings, but he eventually got in a groove, giving up a total of four hits and one walk, while lowering his ERA to 1.80.
Washington scored in the second off Carlos Martinez (0-4) when Avila’s two-out double to left — his first hit as a member of the Nationals — scored Josh Bell from first base. Avila doubled to right in the fifth, but was stranded at third.
Martinez allowed four hits in six innings in his longest outing since going seven on July 7, 2018.
For the second game in a row, Nationals righty Tanner Rainey entered in relief in the seventh to protect a 1-0 lead.
On Tuesday, he put Washington in a hole by allowing two runs, before a comeback provided a 3-2 win for the Nationals. This time, he worked around a double by striking out the side.
NO SOTO
Nationals slugger Juan Soto isn’t exactly sure what caused the strained left shoulder that landed him on the 10-day injured list. The 2020 NL batting champion said Wednesday he feels sore whenever he throws a ball, but not when he swings. He has been told that he needs rest more than anything else. “It’s better to take a couple days now than lose half of the season,” Soto said.
PHILLIES 6, CARDINALS 5
Bryce Harper tied the game with one swing and scored the winning run with one hand brushing the plate. The Phillies slugger was in the mix for two late rallies that saved them from a sweep.
“That’s the most dangerous Bryce Harper you can find,” starter Zach Eflin said. “You’re starting to feel that presence go throughout the whole team. Everybody’s getting fired up about it.”
Andrew Knapp hit the winning single in the ninth inning, Harper hit a tying solo homer in the seventh and Philadelphia beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 on Wednesday.
Harper walked off Wandy Peralta (2-1) to open the ninth, and Brad Miller’s fourth hit of the game put two runners on. Knapp hit a one-out single to left, and Harper beat Alex Dickerson’s throw, scoring standing up and touching the plate with his fingertips to help the Phillies avert a three-game sweep against their former manager, Gabe Kapler, and the Giants.
Hector Neris (1-1) struck out two in a scoreless ninth for the win.