Reaction: Big First Inning Helps Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals Win 7th Straight
The Nats used a three run first inning to help Max Scherzer out as they got their seventh straight win.
This weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Washington Nationals’ offense has continued a trend that they started at the end of the Braves series. Over the last three games, they have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 23-4.
One of the main reasons for that, especially in this weekend’s series at Citizens Bank Park, has been the success of the offense in the first inning. After scoring five in the first on Friday night, the Nats put up three runs against Aaron Nola last night to give Max Scherzer a good lead to start with.
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Last season, the Nats were third in the National league in runs scored in the first inning, trailing only the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. This season, through the first ten games, Dusty Baker’s squad has scored 49 runs in the first, which is tied for sixth in the NL and is 11 more than any other team in the division (Marlins have 38).
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Now, the Nats will take the field today at Citizens Bank Park looking for their second consecutive sweep, their eighth straight win, and a 10-1 start through their first 11 games. Remember last year that the Nats didn’t win their tenth game of the season until April 30 against the Mets.
Before Gio Gonzalez takes on Charlie Morton this afternoon at 1:35 PM ET (MASN and WUSA9), here are my other takeaways from yesterday’s 8-1 win:
Next: Scherzer Has Best Start Of Season
Scherzer Has Best Start Of Season
Coming into last night, Max Scherzer was coming off a little bit of a rough outing against the Braves. While he did get his first win, he had some rough patches in his start. Last night, he looked like an ace as he took advantage of that great start the offense gave him and was able to shut down the Phillies’ offense for the most of the night.
The right-hander went seven innings for the second time this season, gave up one run on five hits, struck out seven, and walked one on 108 pitches (72 strikes). He ran into some early trouble in the first inning, but was able to get Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf to pop out to get out of any trouble.
The only other jam that Scherzer got into was in the fifth. After Cameron Rupp hit a fastball over the wall in left, Emmanuel Burriss (former National) would triple to dead center with two outs. However, Scherzer got Cesar Hernandez to pop out to Anthony Rendon to end the inning and prevent any more runs from scoring.
In the top of that inning, Scherzer even helped himself at the plate with a two-run double to drive in Wilson Ramos and Danny Espinosa.
According to Brooks Baseball, Scherzer’s four-seam fastball was on point as he threw it for strikes over 70 percent of the time. Plus, he threw 15 of his 19 sliders for strikes. Out of the seven strikeouts he had, five out of the seven were either a four-seamer or a changeup.
In addition to Scherzer keeping up his undefeated record as a Nats pitcher at Citizens Bank Park (2-0 in three starts), he keeps the great trend going for Nats starting pitchers this season. So far, Nats’ starters are 7-1 with a 1.93 ERA (best in baseball).
Next: Harper's Hot Surge Continues
Harper’s Hot Surge Continue
It has been an eventful week for the reigning NL MVP. It started on Thursday afternoon when he hit his 100th home run off of Julio Teheran, a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning. With the milestone out of the way, Harper has brought that success to Philadelphia this weekend.
So far, in the two games against the Phillies, Bryce Harper is 5-for-7 with three runs scored, two home runs, and five RBI’s. Last night, with the Nats up 5-0, Harper took a two-seam fastball from Aaron Nola into the corner and over the wall in right for a two-run home run.
Over the last two seasons, Harper has made a habit of beating up on Phillies’ pitching as he has hit ten home runs and driven in 21 runs over the course of 67 at-bats. Out of the ten home runs, seven of them have come at Citizens Bank Park.
When you look at Harper’s success this week, he has only drawn a walk in one of the games (Monday night against the Braves). Teams are still pitching to Harper and he continues to make them pay nearly every time.
In the first ten games of the year, Harper is second in the NL in home runs (Trevor Story of the Rockies has seven), tied for the lead in RBI’s (14 with Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado), and is second on the Nats in batting average (.343) behind Daniel Murphy (.438). It’s early, but its safe to say last year’s MVP is off to another great start in 2016.
Next: Ramos Continues To Roll
Ramos Continues To Roll
Last night, Wilson Ramos went 1-for-4 with a big two-out double in the top of the fifth to keep the inning going. He would eventually come around to score on a two-run double to right by Max Scherzer.
With that double, he has now had a hit in each of his last five games. Ramos also now has ten hits in his last 19 at-bats with one home run and four RBI’s. Plus, he has hit a double in three consecutive games.
While it is a small sample size, Ramos has been one of the best offensive catchers in the National League up until this point. His 14 hits are tied with Yadier Molina for the most by any catcher in the National League and he has the batting average (.389). In addition, he is tied for fifth with five RBI’s and tied for second in doubles (three), trailing only Molina and Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers.
Next: Recap: Nats Beat Phillies 8-1 For 7th Straight Win
If Ramos can continue to stay productive at the plate, he should be near the top of those NL catcher rankings all season long. Plus, the success of guys like Ramos further enhances the depth that this lineup has and how teams will have difficult times navigating it throughout the season.
One more final note on Ramos is that he is having a good start hitting in Citizens Bank Ballpark. His three hits in this series are already halfway toward the total he had last year, when he was 6-for-27 (.222) with one home run and four RBI’s in 27 at-bats.