Errors undo Scherzer's spectacular debut

Whispers began traveling throughout the ballpark of the possibility for history in the making as Nationals starter Max Scherzer secured his second out in the sixth inning with the scoreboard still reading zero in the hit column for the Mets.

With the Nats clinging to a 1-0 lead, Scherzer surrendered his second walk of the day to Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson, the only two stains on an impeccable pitching line until that point. What happened next immediately changed the attitude of the 42,295 people in attendance on a day filled with so much pomp and circumstance.

Mets third baseman David Wright lifted what most would consider a routine pop-up to shallow right field, steps behind the infield dirt. Nats shortstop Ian Desmond came all the way over and bizarrely called off second baseman Dan Uggla, who was camped under the descending ball. Desmond desperately reached for it, but the ball bounced off his glove. It was ruled an error, but more importantly it left the Mets with runners on second and third. One batter later, first baseman Lucas Duda not only ended Scherzer's bid for a no-hitter, but also gave his team the the only two runs it would need in a 3-1 victory.

"I thought he pitched really well," said Nationals manager Matt Williams. "First hit he gave up was the difference in the game. Miscue behind him, that was the difference today. He was really good, as advertised."

Scherzer went 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs - none earned - on four hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Right fielder Bryce Harper gave the Nats the lead in the fourth when smacked a solo homer that sailed well into the stands in deep right-center field. Harper's reaction to the Nats signing Scherzer is well-documented and today the former American League Cy Young Award winner didn't disappoint him.

"Aw, man, you know it's great to see that out of Scherzer," said Harper. "He threw an unbelievable game. Definitely wanted to get that win for him, but sometimes ball doesn't roll your way."

Desmond said after that he felt like he botched the opening day storyline with his miscues. He only had compliments for Scherzer's effort.

"That was really impressive," said Desmond. "He is what he is. He's a Cy Young winner. He pounds the strike zone. I don't know what the percentage was, but he threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. And that was pretty impressive. I know that's his goal."

Scherzer grinds hard to get ahead early in the count. Lefty Gio Gonzalez even said that Scherzer challenged him to see how many times he could throw first pitch strikes during a recent Grapefruit League start.

"I pounded the zones today and really only fell behind two hitters, so from that standpoint, that's what's encouraging is that I'm attacking the zone and doing that with all my pitches," said Scherzer.

Scherzer admitted the errors frustrated him but he wasn't interested in throwing blame around after the disappointing result. After Desmond's muffed catch, Scherzer briefly appeared frustrated on the mound before backing up home plate

"Anytime you lose a ballgame, you can always go back and look at what you could do better," he said. "Even though I threw the ball well, there's still stuff I can improve upon. I did make some mistakes out there where I left some pitches in the middle of the zone. As we keep getting deeper into the season, hopefully I can continue to execute pitches at a high level throughout. That's something I gotta continue to get better at."

The sold-out crowd met Scherzer with a loud ovation when he took the mound for not only his first opening day start but also his debut at Nats Park for his new team.

"I had a lot of fun today," said Scherzer. "The atmosphere was great today. My adrenaline was flowing. Let's just say that. I was having fun and I was able to use that for me and go out there and attack the zone with it. That's what I've learned over the years, that when you have these situations when you have a high adrenaline moment, use it. Don't try to sit there and shy away from it. Actually embrace it and use it to your advantage."