Max Scherzer Leads Washington Nationals To Victory Over Giants
The Washington Nationals got another great pitching outing, as Max Scherzer led them to a 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. With two down, Conor Gillaspie laced a double down the left field line, and was followed by a RBI single by Gregor Blanco giving the Giants an early 1-0 lead.
Scherzer worked himself into trouble again in the bottom of the third. A one out single by ex National Denard Span, followed by a double by Angel Pagan, put runners at second and third with one out. Max bared down and retired Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford, stranding the runners and getting out of a big jam unscathed.
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In the top of the fourth, the Nats struck for the first time against Samardzija. A one out double by Wilson Ramos was followed by an RBI single by Jayson Werth, tying the game at 1-1.
The Nats followed up the next inning with more offense. Starting his first game of the season, Wilmer Difo led off the inning with a double. After a sac bunt, Ben Revere laced an RBI single to right, giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead. With two down in the inning, Daniel Murphy tripled to right center field, scoring Revere and increasing the lead to 3-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Nats scored for their third inning in a row. Jayson Werth led off the inning with a double, and scored on a one out RBI single by Anthony Rendon, increasing the lead to 4-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, Trea Turner replaced Daniel Murphy who slowed up on his triple in the fifth inning.
Uh oh, Trea Turner enters the game at second base in place of Daniel Murphy, who slowed up rounding second & eased into third on his triple
— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) July 30, 2016
After struggling through the first couple of innings, Max Scherzer really settled down and had an outstanding outing. He retired 11 of his last 12 batters and finished with an impressive line of seven innings, on five hits, one run, and six strikeouts. Since June 1, Scherzer has gone 7 or more innings in 8 of his 11 starts, and has posted a 1.67 ERA during that span.
Oliver Perez replaced Scherzer in the bottom of the eighth and ran into trouble. Perez gave up singles to Span and Pagan to put runners on first and second with nobody out, and was replaced by Blake Treinen. The Nats right hander walked Buster Posey to load the bases with still nobody out.
Dusty Baker decided to go with a new pitcher, Sammy Solis, and put Danny Espinosa and Ryan Zimmerman into the game defensively, and it paid off. The next batter, Brandon Crawford, lined into a 3-5 triple play, the first in Nationals history, getting them out of an enormous jam.
Felipe Rivero and Shawn Kelley combined to retire the Giants in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Nationals the big 4-1 victory.
Next Game: This afternoon the Washington Nationals (61-42) continue their four game series against the San Franciso Giants (59-44) at AT&T Park at 4:05 E.T. PM. Reynaldo Lopez (0-1 11.57) will take the mound for the Nats and will be opposed by Jake Peavy (5-9 5.42) for the Giants. You can catch the game on MASN2.