Max Scherzer frustrated after surrendering three homers in Nats' 7-5 loss

PITTSBURGH - A month ago, Max Scherzer dominated the Pirates en route to throwing his first career no-hitter. Pittsburgh exacted full revenge tonight, bombing three homers off the ace to beat the Nationals 7-5.

Jung Ho Kang picked up the Pirates' first hit off Scherzer this year with a one-out single in the second. Scherzer then missed on a 93 mph fastball to Pedro Alvarez and it ended up 460 feet away in the Allegheny River for a two-run homer.

The Nationals fought back with a four-run fourth, keyed by RBI singles from Wilson Ramos and Dan Uggla and a clutch two-run double from Tyler Moore.

With new life and a two-run lead, Scherzer took the mound in the fifth having thrown just 62 pitches. But, a marathon inning ensued, beginning with pinch-hitter Jaff Dacker's eight-pitch walk. Gregory Polanco fell behind 0-2 and then battled Scherzer in what Ian Desmond called "one of the better at-bats of the season." On the 12th pitch, Scherzer hung a curveball and Polanco drilled it over the right field wall for a game-tying two-run homer.

"He just grinded me all the way through," Scherzer said. "He did a great job of just fouling fastballs and keeping his swings short. I'd like to have that pitch more down and be more aggressive down with it.

"But I fell into a 3-2 count. I can't afford to be in those types of counts and expect success. I gotta find ways to put guys away when I'm 0-2. That's something that is as frustrating as today is for me because I did feel like I let the team down."

Neil Walker stepped in after Polanco and smacked a fastball over the right-center wall for back-to-back homers to give the Pirates a one-run lead. Pittsburgh took a far more aggressive approach than their no-hit performance at the plate against Scherzer on June 20.

"They were swinging early," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "That's the chance you take against somebody like Max. And if he's not putting it where he wants to, you've got opportunity. They took advantage of those pitches today. I would assume that they were coming out and not wanting to get deep in counts and swinging early."

Scherzer ended up throwing a whopping 36 pitches in what turned out to be his last inning. He surrendered three home runs for the first time since September 2011 and his five runs given up matched a season-high (May 6 versus the Marlins; July 7 against the Reds).

"It's really frustrating when you get that four-run inning and you're not able to go out there and turn the ball over to the bullpen to close it down," Scherzer said. "That's the stuff that I relish and want to do to help the team pitch deep into a game, and I wasn't able to do that tonight."

The Pirates' lead didn't last long, though, as Desmond answered with a solo shot to left-center to lead off the sixth. He raced around the bases into the Nationals' first base dugout to a raucous celebration, with emotions running high.

"I was pretty excited to get Max off the hook because he's been battling for us all year, really carried us and to go out there and show him that we've got his back," Desmond said.

Pittsburgh quickly reclaimed the momentum in the bottom of the frame when pinch-hitter Brent Morel nailed an RBI double to right-center off left-hander Sammy Solis. Polanco then collected his third RBI on a single to center.

"I was one pitch away from being the hero or the zero," Solis said. "I just left it up a little bit. Got too much plate and you saw what happened. It's not fun to be on this end."

After winning the National League's Pitcher of the Month in May and June, Scherzer is just 1-3 in five starts in July, while his ERA has jumped from 1.82 to 2.33.

"It's also a learning experience," Scherzer said. "I understand what I need to do differently and what I want to do differently going forward. I think I'm gonna get back to my strengths and what I do best."

Asked what changes he was focused on, Scherzer only said he needed to give hitters different looks and keep them off balance.

"It's hard to really talk about anything more than that without really tipping my hand," Scherzer said.

The Mets lost to the Dodgers so the Nationals maintain their three-game lead in the NL East. So there's that.