Washington Nationals Max Scherzer Pitches a Historic Second No-Hitter This Season

“I still have room for improvement”, he said.

Try telling that to the NL East champion New York Mets after Scherzer totally shut them down in a 2-0 win Saturday night that completed a doubleheader sweep.

“The fun’s just starting”, was the message that Yoenis Cespedes delivered to Terry Collins in the minutes following the team’s thank-you parade around Citi Field. They’re taxing on the arm, and they take up a lot of pitches.

Scherzer struck out 17 batters and the only baserunner came on an error by third baseman Yunel Escobar.

No one came close to a hit, and Scherzer struck out nine straight batters before Curtis Granderson lofted an easy popup to Escobar to end it on his 109th pitch.

“Just a play that didn’t get made”, Scherzer said. The Amazin’s were perceived as a possible contender entering the season, but key trade acquisitions helped push them over the top. Those 17 strikeouts tie the record for the most ever in a no-hitter, set by Nolan Ryan in his second no-hitter of 1973.

It’s something he’s never done, and it might be asking a lot as deGrom, after tuning up for Game 1 with four hitless innings Sunday, has already reached a career-high with 191 innings as the postseason begins.

And let’s not forget, this was the second time the Mets were no-hit in 2015.

They lost Game One 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Having clinched the NL East title last weekend for their first postseason berth since 2006, the Mets are trying to finish ahead of the Dodgers for home-field advantage.

New York and Los Angeles are among four teams in major league history to make the playoffs after getting no-hit twice in one season, according to STATS. The others were the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays and 1917 Chicago White Sox, who won the World Series.

As an organization, Scherzer is the Nationals’ 18th weekly honoree.

The game was scoreless in the seventh, one day after Washington ace Max Scherzer pitched a no-hitter against the Mets in the second game of a doubleheader.

The major league record for most pitchers used in a combined no-hitter (since 1914) is six – by Houston against the Yankees in 2003 and by Seattle against the Dodgers in 2012. “But Dee Gordon is such a great hitter and he had over 200 hits and I tip my cap to him”.

Always animated, Scherzer pumped his fist after a few strikeouts, stalked around the mounds and sometimes seemed to be talking to himself for encouragement. Matt Harvey got the start for the Mets and went 6.0 innings, while giving up just unearned run on four hits.

“Two short years I’ve gotten to see three of them, pretty special moments”, Williams told reporters in New York. Baseball’s regular season has concluded and the Mets are not yet done.

This is a phrase I still can’t believe, and quite frankly I’m feeling a little weird that I’ll have two favorite professional sports teams playing in mid-October for the first time in nine years. Granderson’s soft pop finished it. At one point, he struck out 9 batters in a row.

He had a strong start at Dodger Stadium on July 3, allowing one run and two hits over six innings. The Mets – who have totaled one run in their last three contests – have failed to register a hit on two occasions in 2015, also falling victim to San Francisco’s Chris Heston at home on June 9. It was Harper’s 42nd homer. Felipe Rivero worked the ninth for his second save.

Instead, Tomlinson made it 90 feet farther, diving head-first to beat a relay throw at the plate for his second home run of the year. “I wanted to be with my team and I wanted to play the last game with Dezi if that was the way it was going to be”, Harper said. Just sit back and relax until the playoffs get under way.

Craig Breslow (0-4) gave up both home runs, his only mistakes in 5 1-3 innings. The Mets would like him to start against the Dodgers – he could get a tune-up next week in the instructional league.