Nationals' Scherzer carries perfect game into 6th inning, notches 100th career win

Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer came within inches of a perfect game last weekend, settling for a mere no-hitter after hitting Jose Tabata with a slider with two outs in the ninth inning of Saturday's 6-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the midst of one of the most dominant stretches in baseball history, the former Cy Young award winner enjoyed a comparably awesome performance Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Scherzer, who entered the series opener with a sterling 1.76 ERA, tossed 5 1/3 perfect innings against the Philadelphia Phillies before a one-out double from Freddy Galvis snapped his bid for the 24th perfect game in MLB history.

Galvis' knock also snapped Scherzer's streak of hitless innings at 17 1/3, throughout which he recorded 18 strikeouts while allowing just two baserunners. Six days before last week's no-no, Scherzer twirled a 16-strikeout one-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Only once, incidentally, has a pitcher recorded no-hitters in consecutive outings. In June 1938, Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds held the Boston Bees hitless in a 3-0 win before tossing a second straight no-hitter four days later against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Though Scherzer will have to wait four days before getting another chance at perfection, the 31-year-old still threw 24 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings - and also extended the Nationals' starters' scoreless innings streak to 48 - before surrendering a two-out, run-scoring double to Domonic Brown in the bottom of the seventh.

Still, the most improbable moment of Scherzer's magical stretch came in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the Nationals holding a comfortable 5-1 lead, Scherzer - who had allowed just two home runs in his previous 52 2/3 innings heading into Friday - surrendered a solo shot to the unlikeliest of candidates: Ben Revere.

Revere, of course, famously played 296 MLB games before recording his first home run. Over parts of six seasons with the Phillies, the light-hitting 27-year-old has just two homers in 2,330 plate appearances.

Revere's unlikely contribution notwithstanding, Scherzer still made it through eight sublime innings, lifting the Nationals to a 5-2 victory, their seventh in a row, and the 100th win of his decorated career.