Scherzer Has Strong Start On Extra Rest
Scherzer didn’t have a dominant outing yesterday in terms of racking up the strikeouts, but he found a way to have success against the Braves. He went seven innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out five, and walked two on 107 pitches (77 strikes).
His five strikeouts were the lowest he had in any game since August 15 against the Rockies (three). Despite the low strikeout total, he was pounding the strikezone as 23 of the 32 batters he faced saw first pitch strikes.
The Washington Nationals right-hander ran into trouble in the second when he allowed three straight hitters to reach base, including a RBI double by Jace Peterson to put the Braves ahead 1-0. But, Scherzer battled and retired the eight and nine hitters in the Braves order to end the inning.
Other than the second inning, Scherzer didn’t have many issues against the Braves. He is now 3-0 against the Braves this season with his ERA going down to 4.10. Since the All-Star Break, he is 6-1 with a 2.60 ERA in ten starts and opponents are only hitting .186.
As I said earlier, Baker did the right thing by giving Scherzer the extra rest because if you aren’t going to put most of the starters on the field, your ace has to be able to keep the opposing offense from scoring many runs. Yesterday, Scherzer did just that as he continues to improve his resume for a possible National League Cy Young Award.
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