Max Scherzer entered the night 19 strikeouts away from reaching 2,000 in his career. A feat seemingly destined to be reached over two outings, Scherzer put forth an assault on the record book on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ expense.
While a leadoff single, Daniel Murphy error, and Adrian Gonzalez RBI base hit led to Los Angeles tying the game in the first inning, Scherzer recorded three strikeouts. He struck out the side in the second inning to give him five in a row.
Chase Utley drew a leadoff walk in the third, and Gonzalez walked with one out. Scherzer caught Cody Bellinger looking, but a passed ball kept the inning alive. No matter, Scherzer got Chris Taylor swinging to strand the bases loaded.
The Nationals righty proceeded to fan at least one batter in each the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. He finished the game with a season-high 14 strikeouts on 105 pitches. Scherzer’s 38 strikeouts in his past three starts fell one shy of tying a personal-best mark set in 2015.
Corey Seager and Gonzalez were the only Dodgers not to be struck out by Scherzer. However, both went down swinging against Oliver Perez in the eighth inning.
Scherzer’s performance overshadowed a quality start from Brandon McCarthy. He allowed two runs on just three hits, and had four strikeouts in seven innings on an efficient 87 pitches (59 strikes). It marked the second time this season McCarthy completed seven frames.
Trea Turner wreaked havoc in the first, stealing second and third base after reaching on an infield single. He scored on Bryce Harper’s sacrifice fly. Harper’s ground-rule double to lead off the fourth resulted in another run, again on a sac-fly.
That proved the difference in the Nationals’ 2-1 win. The Dodgers again failed to get to a Washington bullpen that ranks among the worst in baseball this season, and suffered a third straight loss.
Los Angeles hands the ball to Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday afternoon, needing a win to avoid being swept in a rematch of the 2016 National League Division Series.
