Washington Nationals: Top 10 Games Of 2016 (5-1)

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May 11, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) reacts after striking out the twentieth Detroit Tiger of the game during the ninth inning at Nationals Park. The Washington Nationals won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Scherzer Strikes Out 20 Against Former Team

Our number one game on this list was a matchup of two pitchers facing their former team as Max Scherzer went up against Jordan Zimmermann and the Tigers.

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In a game that the Nats won 3-2, Daniel Murphy drove in the first two runs with singles in the first and the sixth inning. The other run in this game by the Nats came courtesy of a solo home run by Danny Espinosa in the bottom of the seventh.

The star of this game ended up being Scherzer as he had another historical night in a curly W uniform to go with the two no-hitters he had in 2015. He did give up solo home runs to Jose Iglesias and Victor Martinez, but it was the strikeouts that were the story.

Scherzer struck out 20 Tigers, which tied a Major League record for the most strikeouts in a nine-inning game. Those 20 K’s were part of Scherzer’s 284 strikeouts in 2016, which ended up leading the National League. Plus, it helped him win his second Cy Young award and his first in the NL.

One of the facts that stands out about this game was that this wasn’t even Scherzer’s best game score of the season. According to Baseball Reference, his best performance by game score took place on August 25 against the Orioles when he gave up two hits and struck out ten over eight innings in a win.

Next: Top 10 Nats Games Of 2016 (10-6)

While it wasn’t his best game score of the season, Scherzer once again showed that when he takes the mound, history has a chance to happen.

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