Nats hold off Reds behind Scherzer, Rendon
CINCINNATI -- Max Scherzer wasn't entirely on point in his first start of the second half, but the Nationals ace found plenty of ways to keep the Reds off of the scoreboard on Saturday. Although Scherzer blanked the Reds for six innings, the Nationals bullpen nearly gave a huge lead
CINCINNATI -- Max Scherzer wasn't entirely on point in his first start of the second half, but the Nationals ace found plenty of ways to keep the Reds off of the scoreboard on Saturday. Although Scherzer blanked the Reds for six innings, the Nationals bullpen nearly gave a huge lead back before hanging on for a 10-7 victory over Cincinnati.
Scherzer struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings while allowing three hits and four walks. He left with a 3-0 lead and the Nationals were leading by a 10-0 score after seven innings.
"I've dealt with a lot of failure in my career," Scherzer said. "The thing is, I've learned from that. I know how to make pitches. ... Matt Wieters did such a great job of throwing the right sequence. When they were looking fastball, we were throwing off-speed; when they were looking off-speed, we were throwing fastballs. And so we did a great job of keeping them off balance and never gave up the big hit."
The game was closer under the watch of Reds rookie starter
Scherzer, the Major League leader in ERA and the National League leader in strikeouts, had double-digit strikeouts for the ninth time in his last 10 starts and 61st time in his career. He finished each of his first five innings with a strikeout.
It was a disastrous evening for Reds relievers
The six runs charged to Lorenzen over one-third of an inning ballooned his ERA from 2.93 to 4.08. The Nationals scored at least 10 runs for the 16th time this season, extending their club record (beginning in 2005).
"We went with our best guy for that situation with Michael," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He didn't have it today, and they were able to put together the big inning. It looked like a knockout blow, but to the credit of the guys who were still in the game, they just kept the pedal to the metal so to speak."
In the eighth inning, Nationals reliever
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Max effort: The Reds opened the night by putting Scherzer on the ropes in the first inning, with
"When you're having to face Votto, nobody out, first and second, that's just tough," Scherzer said. "Your back's against the wall. And together, [Wieters and I] did a good job throwing the right pitch at the right time and collecting strikeouts in those big situations."
"We had him on the ropes, and he pitched his way through it," Price said. "He does that to a lot of teams and a lot of lineups and a lot of really good hitters. We got his pitch count up, but I thought the most costly innings were four and five, because he ... stabilized his pitch count."
Murphy snaps tie: It was actually a pitchers' duel in the early going and a scoreless tie until the fourth inning. After
"The middle of our order, they've all got 60 RBIs," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "They're all hitting .300. They're carrying most of the weight on this team."
QUOTABLE
"I think we all collectively want to see a strong finish to the second half and create a renewed excitement about where we are. I think that's just what it is at this point in time. I say it all the time, there's talent here. I don't think we're far away from being one of the better teams if not the best team in the division. I really don't. But you don't want to keep losing and keep talking about how good you are. We've got to win more games." -- Price, on his 39-51 club.
WHAT'S NEXT
Nationals:
Reds:Homer Bailey will get the ball and seek to extend his two-start win streak on Sunday. After he went 0-2 with a 27.00 ERA in his first two starts back from elbow surgery, Bailey is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA over his last two starts.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.
Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast.
Jeremy Vernon is a reporter for MLB.com based in Cincinnati and covered the Nationals on Saturday.