Braves swept out of town by Nats' relentless pitching attack

The Nationals' starting rotation seems to be settling into a groove, which has to be a scary thought for the rest of the National League. Doug Fister was the latest to spin a gem, as the Nationals shut out the Braves 7-0 and earn a sweep of the three-game series.

Fister blanked Atlanta for seven innings, helping the Nationals set a new franchise record of 41 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings for the starting pitchers. The streak began in the second inning of rookie Joe Ross' start on Friday, continued with Max Scherzer's no-hitter the next day, and was extended with shutout starts by Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Fister today. It's the longest streak in the majors since Cleveland Indians starters tossed 44 1/3 scoreless innings in 2008.

"It's impressive," shortstop Ian Desmond said. "It just shows how good they are. On paper, they're good. But being out here, if you guys are watching at home, like I said yesterday, don't take it for granted because this is a really special group of pitchers we have."

Desmond hit his first homer since June 7. The two-run shot to right-center field wrapped up the Nats' scoring in the third inning. Every Nationals player who stepped to the plate in the game recorded at least one hit and right fielder Clint Robinson joined Desmond with multiple base knocks on the day.

But the story was Fister's effort to maintain the building momentum of the starting pitchers.

"You guys see it," Robinson said. "It's been as good as it gets. They're just throwing up zero after zero, night after night, and taking the pressure off the offense so we can go out there and put up some runs for them. When they don't, they can't win. So they're doing their job."

Meanwhile, Fister claimed to be oblivious of the scoreless streak.

"Guys aren't really even paying attention to it," Fister said. "I think that's what makes it great. I really hadn't heard about it."

In fact, Fister revealed that he pretty much zones everything out during his starts, not even recognizing that his offense had delivered six early runs for him.

"I do not know the exact score and honestly when I'm at my best I have no idea what inning it is," Fister said. "I really try and stay simple. I want to do things one pitch at a time. If I get into anything bigger than that, then I'm in trouble myself."

Fister caught reporters off-guard with his approach and was asked in a follow-up question how often he doesn't know the score or inning.

"About every other inning," he said. "I really try and stay simple."

Whatever Fister's method of attack was, it worked today. Besides his normal devastating sinker, Fister's curveball was sharp, as well. He struck out four in his longest outing of the season and was able to throw 111 pitches in just his second start since missing more than a month with a flexor muscle strain in his right forearm.

The Nationals tied their season-high winning streak of six games with today's victory. And, as expected before the beginning of the year, the starting pitchers have led them back atop the National League East.

"They work hard and they're prepared," manager Matt Williams said of his rotation. "They go out there and have willingness and game plan to win. They've been doing well. There's a lot been written. We all know that. They gotta go out and pitch well and we've got to score runs behind them to get them to this point. Happy for them. They're all feeling good, which is first and foremost. And their last turn in the rotation has been good."

Williams will hand the ball to Scherzer tomorrow night in Philadelphia with a good chance of watching the zeros continue to pile up.