Cavalli (11 K's) keeps on rolling as scoreless streak reaches 17 innings

ARLINGTON -- Cade Cavalli is on a roll.

Six days after his most dominant performance of the season, the Nationals’ ace picked up where he left off, striking out 11 in six scoreless innings as the Nats cruised past the Rangers 6-0 at Globe Life Field on Wednesday. The right-hander pushed his scoreless-innings streak to 17.

Consistency has been key for Cavalli, who notched his eighth consecutive quality start.

“It’s just a testament to the process ... coming in and being the exact same, not riding the highs, not riding the lows,” Cavalli said. “Being consistent in who you are and your routine, that adds to the consistency on the field.”

Indeed, there haven’t been many lows lately for Cavalli. His previous time out, Cavalli held the Cubs to only one hit and no runs in eight innings at Nationals Park. With his gem Wednesday, Cavalli added to an impressive recent body of work. He has a 2.12 ERA (14 earned runs in 59 1/3 innings pitched) over his past 10 starts.

After flirting with a no-hitter against the Cubs, Cavalli’s first seven outs Wednesday were all via strikeouts; he had amassed eight K’s by the end of the third inning and 10 by the end of the fourth. Cavalli is one of only eight MLB pitchers this season with 10 or more strikeouts through four innings.

“It was unbelievable the way he started that game,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said.

Since the club moved to Washington in 2005, only two other Nationals pitchers had struck out 10 or more in four innings or fewer. Max Scherzer did it three times and Tanner Roark did it once. Cavalli needed just 60 pitches to get through the first four frames.

Even Cavalli was surprised at how efficient he was with his pitches.

“It's just staying locked in, just keep attacking, trusting the defense to go make plays, and just keep attacking in the zone,” Cavalli said. “Whenever you're attacking in the zone, maybe you can go expand whenever you have them engaged, and go get a chase pitch and a strikeout.”

Cavalli was at 72 pitches after five innings and 84 after six, but Washington broke the game open in the top of the seventh on Andrés Chaparro’s three-run homer.

Cavalli’s services were no longer necessary after that -- especially considering he has pitched 142 2/3 innings this season, the most of any season in his collegiate or professional career. Butera noted that even though Cavalli had thrown only 84 pitches, including 58 strikes, the opportunity to get him a breather was too tempting to pass up.

“We’re trying to be responsible and reasonable when we can to keep his innings count down as much as we can,” Butera said. “But we're also trying to win games. So going into that, we're trying to find spots to get him out maybe after six ... but at the end of the day, it's hard to take him out of games. Luckily, [Chapparo] gave us that big three-run shot to give us a little bit more breathing room.”

The relatively short outing also helped the Tulsa, Okla., native and University of Oklahoma product save some energy for all the friends and family who drove down from Oklahoma to see him. He estimated that more than 40 of them made the trek across the Red River.

“I was really grateful. ... It was just really cool pitching in front of them,” Cavalli said. “A lot of them, first time seeing me out there, and first time having them in the stands for me. I just felt a lot of love and support tonight.”