Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Ian Desmond’s Error Part Of Tough Loss For Max Scherzer
Jun 9, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) is relieved during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been a theme that has been all too common for the Washington Nationals this season. That theme is Max Scherzer not getting much run support in games he starts. With his loss against the New York Yankees last night, Scherzer’s record dropped to 6-5 on the season and he has now lost his last two starts.
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In his six wins, the Nationals have scored 38 total runs. Meanwhile, in Scherzer’s five losses, the Nats have scored six runs. His 3.67 runs of support per start is 17th in the National League and the lowest of any pitcher on the staff.
That being said, the Scherzer-Tanaka matchup lived up to the hype. Masahiro Tanaka had the Nationals off balance for most of the night at the plate with his splitter and slider. Washington had its chances, but they were few and far between.
When you take a look at the NL East, the Nats have to feel a sigh of relief that they are only ½ game behind the New York Mets in the NL East. Plus, they didn’t have the worst night in New York as the Mets were no-hit by Chris Heston and the San Francisco Giants.
Other than Bryce Harper’s two hits, the other eight Nationals in the lineup combined for four hits and two of them came from Yunel Escobar. If the Nats are going to snap out of this collective slump, they need guys like Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, and Wilson Ramos to pick up the slack. The team got bad news an hour before the game when Denard Span, their leadoff hitter that sets the tone, was scratched from the lineup due to back spasms.
Before this afternoon’s game between Gio Gonzalez and Nathan Eovaldi starts at Yankee Stadium, let’s take a look at my takeaways from last night’s game:
Next: Harper vs. Tanaka
Jun 9, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) hits a home run to center during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Bryce Harper Vs. Masahiro Tanaka
Coming into last night, no player in the Washington Nationals lineup had ever faced Masahiro Tanaka. That’s what made the matchup so compelling when he went up against Bryce Harper. It was one of the best pitchers in the league against one of the best hitters in the league and it lived up to the billing.
It began in the top of the first inning. With two outs and nobody on, Harper had a very good at-bat. With the count at 2-2, Harper fouled off four straight pitches and took ball three on a sinker. On the tenth pitch of the at-bat, he hit a groundball to Stephen Drew on a sinker to end the first inning. While Harper lost the battle, he made Tanaka throw 21 pitches in the first inning even though he retired all three hitters.
Then, in the fourth, Harper got his revenge. With two outs and nobody on, he took a 1-0 fastball that was left in the middle of the plate to dead center field. It looked like a flyball to center, but the ball kept carrying past Brett Gardner and over the center field wall. It wasn’t quite Harper’s home run at Wrigley, but he took advantage of a rare mistake by Tanaka.
Finally, in the seventh, Harper took Tanaka off the hook. With the count at 1-2, Harper surprisingly showed bunt and fouled it off for strike three. I understand that Harper was trying to beat the shift, but that is something you do at the beginning of an at-bat. With the offense as bad as it is right now, the young right fielder has to make sure he hits for power in nearly every at-bat.
As for thee rest of the Nationals lineup, they struggled mightily against Tanaka. Tanaka went seven innings, gave up one run on five hits, struck out six, and walked none on 87 pitches. Washington had their chances, but they were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Against a great pitcher, you have to score runs when you get the opportunity.
Next: Was Scherzer In Too Long?
Jun 9, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) pitches during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Did Matt Williams Leave Max Scherzer In Too Long?
Even though Scherzer took the loss last night, the velocity was back on his fastball. At times, the right-hander was getting his heater up to 96-97 miles per hour in the ball game. He went 6.2 innings, gave up four runs on eight hits, struck out seven, and walked one. While his fastball had the velocity, it was the changeup that Scherzer used on four of his seven strikeouts.
The inning I want to focus on is the bottom of the seventh inning. Scherzer entered that frame on 100 pitches and just got out of a difficult jam in the sixth. With runners on the corners and two outs, he struck out Didi Gregorius swinging with a changeup to keep the score tied.
While the Nats ace got Drew to ground out to begin the inning, he gave up back-to-back singles to Ramon Flores and Brett Gardner to put runners on the corner. With Chase Headley coming up, Scherzer was at 114 pitches (tied for a season-high) and Matt Williams had Matt Thornton and Aaron Barrett warming up in the bullpen.
Instead of taking him out, Steve McCatty comes out and discusses things with Scherzer. While Chase Headley lined out to right on the next pitch, Scherzer stayed in to face Alex Rodriguez. On the first pitch, Rodriguez hit a groundball to Desmond, which the shortstop would hit Flores with the throw and have it go out of play to give the Yankees the lead. Desmond had a play at first, but he made the quick throw and it’s tough to get on him too much for that.
After that play, Williams went to Thornton, who would intentionally walk Mark Teixeira, give up a two-run double to Brian McCann, and a RBI single to Carlos Beltran. Once again, the Nationals bullpen, outside of Drew Storen, failed in a big spot.
Williams did leave in Scherzer a little longer than he should have, but with the way Nats have been losing, he had to get that win with his ace on the mound. At that point in the game, you have to let your ace try to finish the inning rather than go to a bullpen that hasn’t been getting the job done as of late. While it wasn’t Max Scherzer’s best game, he did pitched well enough to deserve a better fate.
Next: A Former Brave Haunts The Nats
Jun 9, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees catcher Brian McCann (34) singles to right allowing two runners to score during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
An Old Nemesis Hurts The Nats
One of the main reasons why the Yankees won the game last night was former Braves catcher, Brian McCann. McCann is 7-for-19 with four RBI’s in the month of June, but he did have three hits on the night along with rookie left fielder Ramon Flores.
In the second inning, he took a 2-2 curveball from Scherzer and hit a double to left center, but was left stranded in the second inning. In the fourth, Scherzer won the battle by going with a changeup in the dirt after three straight fastballs in order to get the strikeout.
In the sixth, McCann was down 0-2 in the count, but did enough with a 96 mph fastball as he hit it to right center for a base hit. He should have had a RBI, but Mark Teixeira stopped halfway and could only reach third.
One inning later, Matt Thornton had the task of trying to get McCann out after walking Teixeira. Yes, Teixeira could beat you from either side, but New York’s catcher with the bases loaded on a two hit night was not the best idea. McCann made the Nats pay for that decision with a two-run single down the right field line to break the game open and make it 4-1 Yankees.
McCann has three RBI’s in three games against the Nats this season and is a career .265 hitter against them with 16 home runs and 70 RBI’s. However, it wasn’t just McCann who hurt the Nationals.
Stephen Drew, who is only hitting .175 this season, had two home runs to right field, including one off of Scherzer in the bottom of the third. While Drew’s average is low, he is tied for third on the team with McCann in home runs (nine).
The Nationals saw first hand a Yankees offense that has homered in 15 of their last 17 games and leads the American League in home runs with 11 in the month of June. The Nats have hit five, which is tied for the fewest in the National League. The Nationals have to be hoping their offense gets on the roll that the Yankees are on right now real soon.