Scherzer follows Sanchez's gem with 6 no-hit innings in Game 2

Max Scherzer followed Anibal Sanchez in the Washington Nationals' NLCS rotation, and it was deja vu all over again.

Less than 24 hours after Sanchez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Game 1 of the NLCS, Scherzer opened Game 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals with six no-hit frames Saturday.

This wasn't the first time that Scherzer and Sanchez have followed each other with no-hit bids in the postseason. In 2013, when both right-handers were members of the Detroit Tigers, they did the same thing to the Boston Red Sox in the first two games of the ALCS. Just as they did this year, Sanchez started Game 1 of the '13 ALCS and Scherzer got Game 2; unfortunately for Scherzer, the Tigers' bullpen blew his start in memorable fashion.

Scherzer and Sanchez remain the only teammates to have held the same team hitless through at least five innings in consecutive playoff games, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

For Scherzer, it was the fifth time in his career that he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of a playoff start - the most times a pitcher has done so in postseason history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

Paul Goldschmidt's seventh-inning single that broke up Scherzer's no-hit bid was also the first hit by a member of the Cardinals' starting lineup in the NLCS. Dating back to Game 5 of the division series, Goldschmidt's hit was the first by a Cardinals starter in 62 straight plate appearances, by far the longest such streak in playoff history, according to Stats By Stats.

Scherzer eventually stranded Goldschmidt and departed after throwing seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts and two walks, in addition to the lone hit allowed.

Sean Doolittle, Patrick Corbin, and Daniel Hudson picked Scherzer up out of the bullpen to close out a 3-1 Nationals win. Washington is now up 2-0 in the NLCS.