Scherzer thrilled for former teammate Parra's big hit

By Byron Kerr

Nationals

May 12, 2019, 7:08am

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LOS ANGELES - Right-hander Max Scherzer earned his second win of the season Saturday night thanks to a former teammate.

Scherzer played alongside new National Gerardo Parra in Arizona in 2009.

Parra delivered a grand slam Saturday night lifting the Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Dodgers. Scherzer said Parra had a flair for the dramatic even back then.

"It's been 10 years since I played with him. He was a little kid when he came up," Scherzer said. "I told him I remembered when you hit that first pitch for a home run. His first big league hit was a home run.

"We go way back all the way to Arizona and we faced each other throughout the years. It's fun to have him back on our team, especially when he does something like that for the team. I'm sure he feels a lot better in this clubhouse."

Manager Davey Martinez described what he was thinking during Parra's eighth-inning at-bat with the bases loaded, two outs and his team down 2-1.

"Just hit the ball. Just get a base hit," Martinez said. "But slow motion in your mind what a really beautiful swing. It was a great at-bat."

Now the Nats turn to right-hander Stephen Strasburg for Sunday's series finale. Washington has a shot at a series win for the first time in 24 days. Scherzer said that's a good place to be for his team.

"You're only as good as your next day's starting pitcher and we got Stras going," Scherzer said. "He's throwing the ball really well right now so we feel like we are in a good position to go out there and play good baseball and that's what we expect."