Max Scherzer takes another hard-luck loss

As dominant as Max Scherzer has been this year, the Nationals hold a less than impressive 11-8 record when he starts. That disappointing tally is due mostly to the lack of offensive support Scherzer has received. Sunday's shutout loss to Zack Greinke and the Dodgers totals three times this year that the Nationals have failed to score a run when Scherzer takes the mound. Overall, the Nats have plated just seven runs combined in Scherzer's eight losses.

"Max, he's going to do his job every time," Clint Robinson said. "He knows how hard this game is, he has a lot of respect for us as hitters and a lot of respect for other offenses. He knows that you're going to go through ups and downs. Most of the time when Max is out there, he's matching up with their best. He's just gotta go out there and do his job, and we've gotta do our job and help him out. We haven't done that in the games he's lost, and we gotta get better at that."

Robinson collected one of the three hits the Nats managed against Greinke, who fanned a season-high 11 while walking just one. Meanwhile, Scherzer allowed one run on seven hits with eight strikeouts. He ended a streak of 39 2/3 innings without walking a batter when he issued a free pass to Yasmani Grandal in the first.

"I thought I did pitch well," Scherzer said after the hard-luck 5-0 loss. "Giving up only one run is good, but good is not good enough when you're going up against Greinke and what he's doing right now. He just completely shut us down. He was throwing the ball outstanding, and I wasn't able to match him."

Greinke is threatening history with his current 43 2/3 scoreless innings streak, which is the longest since fellow Dodgers great Orel Hershiser set the all-time mark with 59 straight scoreless frames in 1989.

The ultra-competitive Scherzer was, of course, up for the challenge, but Greinke simply overmatched the Nationals.

"I love facing the best," Scherzer said. "Right now, (Greinke's) the best. He started the All-Star Game. I always enjoy facing the best. You want to go out there and compete with him and compete as hard as you can. I went out there and gave everything I got. I got beat today. He was better. He went out there and threw the ball terrific. We weren't able to get to him, so give him a lot of credit."

Scherzer's ERA dropped to 2.09, second-best in the National League. The only run he allowed came in the fourth. Andre Ethier ripped a leadoff double down the left field line and advanced to third on Grandal's sacrifice bunt. However, after Scherzer pumped a 97 mph heater past Yasiel Puig for the second out, it appeared the ace would fight out of the jam. But, with Alberto Callaspo at the plate, Scherzer uncorked a wild pitch. Wilson Ramos hurried after the ball, but his throw back to Scherzer missed badly and Ethier raced home safely.

"It was just a cutter that broke too far in," Scherzer said. "Just one of those things, I yanked it. I missed with it, and that ended up costing me a crucial run at that point in the game. It's just something that I'm trying to execute that pitch in and I yanked it in.

"Sometimes you gotta look at the positives even when you have failures. That's not a pitch I left out over the plate that got hammered. I executed, just pulled it and yanked it too much. That's on me and I gotta pitch better than that, but I'm not gonna beat myself up over that pitch."

Scherzer's next chance will most likely come in Pittsburgh on Friday night. It will be a rematch after Scherzer tossed his first career no-hitter against the Pirates on June 20 at Nationals Park. It's possible the Nationals lineup could receive some added help by the end of the week with Jayson Werth (fractured left wrist), Anthony Rendon (strained left quad) and Ryan Zimmerman (left foot plantar fasciitis) all in the midst of their minor league rehab assignments.