NEW YORK — Max Scherzer's last pitch of the night came with a heavy grunt, heard loud and clear from the second deck of a quiet and nearly empty Citi Field. It was all labor for him in six innings Tuesday, though he still exited with a one-run lead intact, leaving the last third of the game for a thin and evolving bullpen.
Three relievers entered behind Scherzer. And this time, they hung on to give the Washington Nationals a 2-1 win over the New York Mets. Manager Dave Martinez is working without two of his expected late-inning options. Right-hander Will Harris is still coming back from a right groin strain, and left-hander Sean Doolittle can't take high-leverage spots until further notice. So Martinez went with Javy Guerra, Tanner Rainey and Daniel Hudson, with Rainey and Hudson recording the final eight outs.
Scherzer, having exited his previous start with a tweaked hamstring, limited the Mets despite consistent traffic on the bases and a lot of hard contact. Seven strikeouts kept the damage to a minimum. Then a new bullpen formula helped bump the Nationals' record to 6-7.
"Anybody can get big outs here and there whenever it's needed," Rainey said. "We expect to cover innings and keep the games where they are."
There were no specific limitations for Scherzer heading into the game. Instead, Martinez told reporters the Nationals were "going to watch him." But while that may seem obvious — because it's nearly impossible to not watch the pitcher — the phrase has gained meaning in 2020.
Pitchers around baseball are fighting injuries big and small. Stars such as Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber and Shohei Ohtani are unlikely to throw another pitch this season. New York Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle underwent Tommy John surgery last week. On the Nationals alone, Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and relievers Harris and Roenis Elías have had varying setbacks.
Elías is on the 60-day injured list with a flexor strain in his left elbow. Harris is on the 10-day IL and, after throwing 17 pitches Tuesday, could return soon. Strasburg is dealing with nerve irritation in his right hand, which flared up again in the fifth inning of his last start. Scherzer's previous outing, against the Mets in Washington, lasted just one inning and 27 pitches.
"I was just getting back in the swing of things after really not pitching for 13 days there," Scherzer said, adding he knew the hamstring wouldn't be an issue. "I told you I tweaked it; I didn't do any damage. It wasn't like a long-term injury."
So watching Scherzer included a short list of questions: Was his fastball into the mid-90s? Was he able to generate power with his back leg? Did he have his usual command of each pitch, including his slider, change-up and curveball? The answers early on were yes, yes and not quite.
Trea Turner gave Scherzer an immediate lead. The shortstop sliced Rick Porcello's second pitch for a home run, taking a high sinker out to right. It was the 10th leadoff shot of his career, breaking a Nationals record set by Alfonso Soriano in 2006. But it was also an anomaly for Turner. He hit a career-high 19 home runs in 2019, and each one was pulled to the left of straightaway center. He had, in fact, hit only one to right field in 2,179 previous plate appearances.
Then on Tuesday he lifted a second to stay hot. The oddity smacked a cardboard fan in the face. Turner recently went through an 0-for-18 slump, but he had a homer and two singles in a series-opening win here Monday. He singled in the third to notch five hits in his past six at-bats. By that point, Victor Robles had stretched the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single in the second.
"I don't have necessarily the 'oppo' power that some of these big guys get; usually I have to pull them," Turner said. "But every once in a while, if you get the right pitch and the right swing, it sneaks out. I'll take it."
Scherzer sweated through most of his night. He threw 29 pitches in the first and stranded the bases loaded. He finished the second at 60 pitches and muttered to himself while walking off. His fastball was erratic. A few glove-side change-ups sailed wide of the strike zone.
He was hit well in the third, though it ended quickly once Dominic Smith lined into a double play. In the fourth, Andrés Giménez hit a one-out triple and came home on Luis Guillorme's sacrifice fly. Scherzer then gutted out the fifth and sixth, climbing to 105 pitches, before Martinez went to the bullpen.
"I was tired there after the second, having two long innings," Scherzer said. "My arm was a little dead, but that actually helped out my change-up. I was able to start going into the zone with my change-up, and that pitch really helped me out there in the middle part of the game."
Guerra got the first call. He yielded a leadoff double to Guillorme, who reached second only after Juan Soto seemed to lose the ball in the lights. Then he recorded one out before walking Brandon Nimmo. Martinez was quickly out of the dugout to bring in Rainey.
The 26-year-old has been Washington's best reliever this year, and he continued to build on that sample size. Just three pitches after he entered, Rainey got Jeff McNeil to bounce into an inning-ending, rally-killing double play. Then, in the eighth, Rainey struck out J.D. Davis with three sliders, struck out Michael Conforto on a fastball that whizzed by catcher Kurt Suzuki and got Smith to bounce out to second.
His ERA shrank to 1.08 in 8⅓ innings. He left the ninth for Hudson, whose previous appearance resulted in a blown lead against the Baltimore Orioles. But Hudson set the Mets down in order, helped by a running catch by Turner for the second out. The bullpen, held together by masking tape, had keyed another win.
