Nationals purposely having Scherzer pitch longer into games

The Washington Nationals are using unconventional tactics to get ace Max Scherzer ready for the postseason.

After Scherzer was left in the game longer than anticipated against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday - throwing 116 pitches across six-plus innings - manager Dusty Baker explained the thought process behind pushing the right-hander's pitch count so high.

"We wanted to take him out," Baker explained to reporters, including Chelsea James of The Washington Post. "But we wanted to stick with the game plan. We were thinking long run instead of short run."

With the game tied 2-2 at the top of the seventh inning, Scherzer walked three straight batters, allowed a single that scored two runs, and then intentionally walked Freddie Freeman. He was finally replaced by Brandon Kintzler, who promptly gave up a grand slam to Matt Kemp, and the Nationals went on to lose 8-2.

Washington's game plan, though, involved allowing Scherzer to throw more than 110 pitches; the two-time Cy Young winner requested to do so in order to get used to throwing a lot of pitches during a game before the postseason begins.

"I knew it was important for me, going into that start tonight, to be able to get to that level. That's where I showed some rust tonight," Scherzer explained. "... This is why I needed to pitch that deep into the game, so I can shake off some of that rust and later in the year here I'm able to be strong all the way through 110 pitches."

Prior to Wednesday's start, Scherzer had only surpassed the 110-pitch mark once since the All-Star break because of injuries.

"I know it looked ugly. It looked ugly to you. It looked ugly to us and the fans and everybody else," Baker said of Scherzer's outing. "But if you have a game plan, you want to stick with it as much and as long as you can."