Max Scherzer’s bid for a Vander Meer — throwing back-to-back no-hitters — overshadowed another impressive piece of Nationals-related trivia as they prepared to take on the Phillies: the starting rotation’s collective scoreless innings streak.
Joe Ross, on June 19, was the last Nationals starter to yield a run, doing so in the second inning when Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco hit an RBI single to right field.
Scherzer lost his bid for a perfect game with one out in the sixth inning on a Freddy Galvis double to right field, but he was stranded. In the seventh, Cesar Hernandez led off with a double and eventually came around to score on Domonic Brown’s double to left-center. That ended a streak of 48 consecutive scoreless innings for the Nats’ rotation, as Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington noted on Twitter:
Here’s what the Nationals’ starting pitching has looked like lately:
- Joe Ross, June 19 vs. Pirates: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
- Max Scherzer, June 20 vs. Pirates: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB (1 HBP), 10 K
- Gio Gonzalez, June 21 vs. Pirates: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
- Stephen Strasburg, June 23 vs. Braves: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
- Jordan Zimmermann, June 24 vs. Braves: 8 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
- Doug Fister, June 25 vs. Braves: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
- Max Scherzer, June 26 @ Phillies: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
- Total: 51.1 IP, 29 H, 3 ER (0.53 ERA), 5 BB, 45 K
