Nationals top Phillies, Max Scherzer takes perfect game into 6th inning

Max Scherzer had Nationals fans buzzing again Friday night, picking up right where he left off after a no-hitter in his last outing.

The Washington Nationals ace, who retired all but two batters he faced over a two-start span, retired the first 16 Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night before a one-out double by Freddy Galvis soiled what had all the makings of another perfect game bid.

Scherzer came one strike away from a perfect game in his most recent start, settling for a no-hitter when Pittsburgh Pirates pinch hitter Jose Tabata was hit by a pitch on his elbow pad. That followed a 28-up, 27-down effort against the Milwaukee Brewers sullied only by a bloop seventh inning single from Carlos Gomez.

Friday, his dominance was almost predictable.

He was facing a Phillies team that ranks last in the major leagues in runs scored and 29th with a .650 OPS, and saw its manager, Ryne Sandberg, abruptly resign earlier in the day. Scherzer needed just 48 pitches to get through five innings, striking out three.

"Once you get through the order first time through, you know you have something going," Scherzer said. "But, it's hard. It takes luck and when you make mistakes, they have to mishit it."

Finally, Scherzer ran out of luck. He went to a full count on the first batter in the sixth, catcher Cameron Rupp, before blowing a fastball by him. At that point, he'd retired 70 of 72 batters over three starts.

Finally, Galvis laced a clean double onto the warning track to break up the perfect game and no-hitter, though Scherzer got the last two batters, extending the Nationals rotation's scoreless streak to 48 1/3 innings. The streak would end there as he gave up an RBI double to Dominic Brown and then a solo home run to Ben Revere to account for the Phillies two runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

"He was really good again, complete comfort and dominance," Nationals manager Matt Williams said of Scherzer.

For good measure, Scherzer singled and scored a run on a sacrifice fly to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the fifth. He also got help at the plate from right fielder Matt den Dekker who hit a 2-run home run to right center field. Max Storen pitched a scoreless ninth to hand Scherzer the victory.

It was the first loss for Phillies interim manager Pat Mackanin who took over for Ryan Sandberg after he resigned his post earlier Friday.

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