With dominance and efficiency, Scherzer authors latest gem

Max Scherzer tries not to think about it until he gets deep into a game. No sense worrying about going the distance until it's within realistic reach.

Scherzer's goal when he took the mound tonight at Nationals Park was to get through at least seven innings on 105 pitches. That would be enough to help cover for a relief corps that tossed a combined seven frames during Sunday night's marathon loss to the Mets. Anything beyond that would be gravy.

But as the zeros kept piling up and his pitch total remained well short of triple digits, Scherzer came to the conclusion that tonight was indeed the night to try to complete what he started.

"When I finished the seventh, I saw the pitch count was still down," he said. "I knew at least I had a chance to keep going."

Scherzer had a chance. The Braves had none.

In one of the most efficient performances of his career, Scherzer tossed a two-hit shutout on 102 pitches, striking out 10, walking none and never letting an Atlanta runner advance past first base during a 2-0 victory the Nationals sorely needed to stop a five-game losing streak.

"He picked us up tonight, he really did," manager Davey Martinez said. "We were able to score some runs early for him, and he went out there and did his thing."

The Nationals, as has been their custom eight times in the season's first 10 games, gave their starter a lead in the first inning. Howie Kendrick's two-out, two-run double down the third base line allowed Scherzer to work with a 2-0 cushion early on, and that's all the cushion he needed.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner was all business, allowing only two batters to reach against him. Kurt Suzuki singled up the middle in the top of the second but immediately was erased on a double play grounder. Nick Markakis led off the top of the fifth with a single but never advanced beyond first base.

And that was it. That was the full extent of Atlanta's offensive attack in this game. Not that it was anything new for Scherzer, who has now struck out at least 10 batters without issuing a walk 17 times in his career. Only five pitchers have done it more times: Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Clayton Kershaw, Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez.

How does a pitcher do that?

"Strike one," Martinez said. "When he attacks the strike zone like that, he's tough. I mean, he's tough all the time. But when he can do that and control the strike zone like he did, he's tough."

To the manager's point: Scherzer threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 28 batters he faced. That left the Braves on their heels all night, and few pitchers can take advantage of that scenario like Scherzer.

"I'm more proud that I didn't walk anybody," he said. "When you don't walk any people, it gives your defense a chance to collect outs and keeps them from having a big inning without doing anything. That's huge when you can manage your free passes."

As the night progressed, Scherzer began to ratchet things up. His fastball, which sat in the 92-93 mph early on, reached 95 mph. The strikeouts began to pile up (two in the fifth, two in the seventh, two in the ninth). And he even began to get more aggressive from an offensive perspective.

When he opened the bottom of the seventh with a sharp base hit down the first base line, Scherzer made a hard turn around the bag and looked like he might try to stretch the hit into a double. He slammed on the brakes and settled for the single, but he didn't stay there for long. With an 0-2 count on Trea Turner and Braves reliever Peter Moylan paying no attention to him whatsoever, Scherzer did something he's waited his whole career to do: He tried to steal a base.

"I've been yelling at Matt Williams, and I've been yelling at Dusty Baker, like: 'Let me go!' " the pitcher said, referencing his previous two managers. "There's obviously situations where I feel like I'm fast enough. If J-Dub (Jayson Werth) can steal a base, so can I. We have the same home-to-first time. So that's how I know I can do that. Tonight, I was on first. I knew it was an 0-2 count. I thought he was going to try and expand the zone. I thought that was just a chance to go."

So he did. And the Braves never had a chance to get him. Scherzer slid into second base without even drawing a throw, as the crowd of 19,528 roared with delight.

"That's a player," said catcher Pedro Severino, who happened to record his first career steal tonight as well. "He's awesome. He can pitch. He can hit now. He can steal second, too. So, he's awesome."

Scherzer saved his best for the end, though. With his pitch count at 92 at the end of the eighth, he marched back to the dugout and had only a couple of words for Martinez and pitching coach Derek Lilliquist. They wouldn't have dreamed of taking the ball out of his hand at that moment, anyway.

"He came out after the eighth inning and said, 'Yeah, I feel good,'" Martinez said. "We did get (Sean) Doolittle up just in case, but he was rolling."

And he made quick work of the ninth. Needing only 10 pitches, Scherzer retired the side, striking out both Charlie Culberson and Ender Inciarte to end this game in a tidy 2 hours, 21 minutes.

"Max being Max," Martinez said.

Really, what more is there to say?