Washington Nationals: Takeaways From 1-0 Loss To Brewers

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Jul 4, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws to the Milwaukee Brewers during the fourth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Scherzer’s One Mistake Costs Him

For the second time in three starts, Scherzer took a loss against the Brewers, but this start was much better than the performance he had on June 25. The right-hander went six innings, gave up one run on four hits, struck out seven, and walked three on 114 pitches (73 strikes) in the loss.

Just like that last Brewers start, Scherzer giving up solo home runs ended up being the difference. In the top of the fifth, Martin Maldonado crushed a 2-1 fastball from Scherzer into left center for the lone run of the day. Maldonado has three home runs this season, with two of them coming against the Washington Nationals.

Now, Scherzer didn’t have his A stuff like he did against the Mets, but he still found a way to keep the Nats within striking distance. With that being said, he still gave up three solo home runs in two games against the Brewers offense and none of them came from Braun, Jonathan Lucroy, or Chris Carter.

The one thing that the Brewers did yesterday that stood out was they worked up Scherzer’s pitch count and got him out of the game by the sixth inning. In four of those six innings, Scherzer ended up throwing 20+ pitches, including 23 pitches in the second inning.

But, on the plus side, Scherzer still hasn’t allowed Ryan Braun to get a hit against him since Braun’s single in the first inning yesterday did not count because he was batting out of order. Braun went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the win.

Next: Papelbon's First Game Back From DL Goes Well

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