Nats need focus to be on winning baseball games with 25 games left

By Byron Kerr

Nationals

September 08, 2015, 8:00am

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Fans know the bottom line is that the Nationals need to win baseball games. Everything outside of that is distraction. They have 25 games left.

"I mean, it's games we got to win," outfielder Bryce Harper said. "I think it's games that we have to come in here and try to just win ballgames. That's the biggest thing but stay within ourselves, do what we can do as a team, as an organization, and just know it's just the game of baseball.

"We've been doing it our whole life. We got a great team. (The Mets are) definitely great team over there, and so it's going to be a battle. We just got to grind and keep going and try to get (Matt) Harvey tomorrow."

Max Scherzer was falling behind in counts more often than usual in Monday's game against the Mets. What else should he do to help his fastball?

"I don't think it's a different approach," said manager Matt Williams. "If you don't have a great feel for it, then you try to do other things. I think that fastball command is important. That fastball down and away to the righty, he hasn't been quite getting it there."

On deciding not to pinch-hit for Scherzer with men on second and third in the fifth leading 5-4:

"He's our best option in the sixth inning," Williams said. "He's got pitches left. We want to make sure that we're getting it to the eighth. He's at 90 (pitches). He's got the lead. He's our No. 1 for a reason."

Scherzer is 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA in his last seven starts.