Max Scherzer was extremely sharp on Saturday night as he threw his second no-hitter of the season. Both no-hitters came against teams that are headed to the 2015 playoffs, which shows the dominance of "Mad Max." The last 9-of-10 outs from Scherzer came on strikeouts, all of which were swinging strikeouts.
"These things are special," Scherzer said. "To do it twice in one season, my gosh, it doesn't seem possible."
The only thing that kept his performance from being a perfect game was an error by third baseman Yunel Escobar in the sixth inning. Scherzer struck out 17 New York batters and walked none.
The Washington Nationals (83-78) defeated the New York Mets (89-72) with two run on five hits. One of those hits coming from Scherzer, who was dominant in every aspect of the game on Saturday.
While Scherzer was perfect, his opposition was very good. Matt Harvey got the start for the Mets and went 6.0 innings, while giving up just unearned run on four hits. He took the loss, but now has a 2.71 ERA and added 11 strikeouts to make it 288 on the season.
With the no-hitter, Scherzer improved his record to 14-12 with a 2.79 ERA. He is just the sixth pitcher to record two no-hitters in a single season.
"To throw a no-hitter, sometimes it takes a little luck," Scherzer said. "I was able to execute all four of my pitches whether I was behind in the count or ahead in the count."
Meanwhile, catcher Wilson Ramos became the 14th catcher since 1914 to catch three or more no-hitters.
"I trusted my catcher," Scherzer said. "There were a lot of times he called some pitches I wasn't sure about. I trusted him, and it worked we were in sync."
The first run for the Nationals came on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ramos, scoring Michael Taylor. The Mets allowed Taylor to reach safely on a fielding error from Kelly Johnson.
One inning later, second baseman Dan Uggla launched his second home run of the season to put the Nationals ahead by two. It was a lead that stuck for the rest of the game.
The last pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a season was former Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay in 2010. He had one in the regular season and another in the postseason.
Scherzer is in his first season with the Nationals after signing a seven-year, $210 million deal after leaving the Detroit Tigers. The 2013 American League Cy Young winner has already proved that he will be a go-to pitcher in the years to come for Washington.
Yet another record was broken on Saturday night, which was 35 total strikeouts by both teams in a nine-inning game. The previous record was 31 strikeouts back in 1997 between the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners.
The win was the second of the day for Washington, who defeated New York in the first game of the doubleheader as well. Bryce Harper knocked his 42nd home run of the season to lead the Nationals to victory in game one.