Scherzer looking to build off of changeup; Zimmerman on "big" western trip

There are very few starting pitchers that I have come across in all my years of covering major league baseball that are as articulate and thoughtful as Max Scherzer. Win or lose, he can eloquently break down what went right and what went wrong, and he already is devising a plan of attack for his next outing.

Scherzer had a no-decision Sunday. He went six innings, allowed eight hits and four runs, one intentional walk and still struck out 10 batters. He allowed three homers and left with 84 pitches, 63 for strikes.

Carlos Gonzalez had two homers and Daniel Descalso had the other shot. Scherzer gave a hat tip to Gonzalez, but also felt pretty good about how he had better command of his breaking pitch.

"CarGo, he's on fire right now, but at the same time, I thought I did some really good things as well," Scherzer said. "I really think I got my changeup back where I could pitch with it. Really one of the better games I've had over the past month or so pitching with my changeup. It's frustrating that I gave up four runs. Especially when we had the lead and I wasn't able to hold it. That's something I really pride myself on, and the fact that I didn't do that for the team is frustrating."

Many other pitchers would have left it at that. But Scherzer continued by saying you can't get too down on yourself when your team loses a game. It was an enlightening exchange about how every start is important, but there also is 30 to 35 starts a season, and you also must look to build on even an uncomfortable result.

"(It's) one of these outings where you can't beat yourself up," Scherzer said. "You got to realize that they're really good, too. They're a really good ballclub. They've got some guys that are hot and they can really do some things offensively. You got to move forward and realize there was a lot of positives I did today. I really pounded the zone. Got back to what I was doing best, being on the attack and working in counts in my favor. I have to take away that the process was right."

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman had a two-homer game for the first time since September of 2013. It was his 13th multi-homer game of his career and the seventh straight game with at least one RBI.

Zimmerman said the loss was certainly difficult, but because the National League East is the weakest division in the senior circuit this season, the Nationals are still well within striking range.

"You can't look at baseball on a day-to-day basis that's why it's so hard for you guys," Zimmerman said. "You have to write things that really don't matter because you can't talk about stuff every day in baseball. I'm glad I don't have your guys' job. It's more of a large sample size sport. Look at the Mets earlier in the year, they won 10 in a row and then everyone said they have this great team. Then they lost eight in a row and now they're winning seven in a row. You just got to stay within striking distance and get where we need to be with two or three weeks left in the season and then go from there."

He did, however, acknowledge that this next trip to California and Colorado for 10 games is a huge challenge. The club has three games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, then four against the Giants and three to finish the trip against the Rockies.

"This is a big trip," Zimmerman concluded. "All that being said, this is a big trip. We have the Dodgers and then four in San Francisco, that's a tough week. We need to battle and do what we can to have a decent trip. I don't want to say stay within striking distance, but just stay right there in that range I guess is the best way to put it."

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Nationals manager Matt Williams updated the status of right-hander Aaron Barrett. In an unusual move, the club rescinded the option and put Barrett on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain.

"Well, he's going to go get some tests," Williams said. "We decided to option him and then he let us know that his elbow was bothering him. He didn't let us know until then. So since then we've scheduled some tests, put him on the DL to make sure that we take a look at it."