Scherzer piling up strikeouts and RBIs (Nats win 3-1)

PHOENIX - Strikeouts may be up across baseball, but Max Scherzer is taking it to levels few ever dreamed of reaching.

On the heels of a 15-strikeout performance in his most recent start, Scherzer already has eight of them through three innings tonight against the Diamondbacks.

Not that the Nationals ace has been perfect, far from it. He had to pitch out of jams in both the first and second innings, stranding a runner on third base. And he served up a solo homer to David Peralta in the bottom of the third, watching the Arizona leadoff man circle the bases after golfing a curveball over the right field fence.

That tied this game 1-1, with the Nationals getting on the board moments after the game began. Trea Turner, moved back into the leadoff spot, worked the count full against Matt Koch and then blasted a home run to left, the seventh leadoff homer of his career.

The Nats have had chances to add on, though, and haven't come through much. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position through the first two innings alone. Then Scherzer took care of business for himself, blasting a two-out, RBI double to right-center in the top of the fourth, giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead.

Scherzer is making sure he doesn't need much run support tonight. Just as he did in his last start, when he struck out 15 in only 6 1/3 innings. Combine that with his first 2 2/3 innings tonight, and the right-hander totaled 22 strikeouts over nine innings of work.

The record for a single, nine-inning game, of course, is 20. That's a feat accomplished by only four men: Roger Clemens (twice), Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson and ... Max Scherzer.

Update: With Scherzer cruising, the Nats just needed to find some insurance somewhere to extend their lead. They finally got it via Anthony Rendon, who launched a ball onto the overhang in deep left-center in the top of the eighth to make it 3-1. Even though Scherzer's pitch count stood at only 99, and even though he's scheduled to get two extra days of rest before his next start, the Nats decided to pull him and go to the bullpen. Brandon Kintzler responded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for Sean Doolittle to pitch the ninth.

Update II: And that'll do it. Sean Doolittle, who again rode in on the bullpen cart, closed out a 3-1 victory for the Nationals, their 11th win in 13 games. Scherzer improves to 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA. And the Nats will look to make it three in a row against the Diamondbacks tomorrow afternoon.