Nats are silent at plate, lose 2-0 on homer allowed by Scherzer

Brilliant as he is usually is, Max Scherzer isn't perfect. He's allotted one or two mistakes per game. The hope is that the rest of the Nationals can simply do their part to make Scherzer's human moments inconsequential.

They were not able to do that today. And as a result, Scherzer's one mistake proved the difference in the game.

Brandon Crawford's two-run homer in the top of the fourth gave the Giants a 2-0 lead. That's all they needed to beat Scherzer and send the Nationals to a particularly frustrating loss not only in today's game but in the weekend series.

"Max pitches really well," manager Davey Martinez said. "He made one mistake, but got to score runs to win."

With a chance to wrap up their homestand on a high note, the Nats instead lost 2-of-3 to San Francisco, done in by a lineup that continues to struggle to find some semblance of consistency while waiting for injured regulars to return.

The Nationals could have moved into sole possession of first place in the National League East after the Braves lost at Dodger Stadium. Instead, the two clubs remain tied heading into the week, with the Nats now heading to Yankee Stadium for a quick series against the majors' hottest team.

"I feel like the first two games (this weekend), I feel like we did a decent job getting traffic out there and continued to put pressure on them," shortstop Trea Turner said. "And today it just kind of didn't click all the way through. I think it's a little bit of a coincidence, but when you get traffic on the bases, that helps get better pitches to hit, puts more pressure on them. Hopefully we can do that to the Yankees on Tuesday."

Scherzer was his usual dominant self, striking out six in a row at one point and cruising through his first three innings on 41 pitches. The Giants lineup, though, featured two distinct thorns in his side: Pablo Sandoval and Crawford.

Sandoval, who entered the day 5-for-14 with two homers in his career against Scherzer, benefited from the right-hander's cautious approach vs. him, drawing two walks. Crawford, one of the hottest hitters in the game right now, took advantage of pitches over the plate and recorded hits in all three of his at-bats against Scherzer (plus another off reliever Matt Grace in the eighth).

The second of Crawford's hits was the big one: a two-run laser into the second deck in right field. It came on a 1-2 cutter, and that was notable because it was the third home run (out of seven total) Scherzer has surrendered on a pitch he throws only 11 percent of the time.

"The league's making an adjustment on it," Scherzer said. "Last year, I felt like I held the advantage over the league on how I executed that pitch. Right now, they're putting good swings on it. I just got to find a way to execute a little better and find better locations."

Who knew that one blast would matter so much in this game? It did, because Scherzer otherwise was fantastic, striking out nine over seven innings on 113 pitches. And because the Nationals lineup was impotent against Giants left-hander Derek Holland, who surrendered three singles and two walks in five innings.

With Adam Eaton given the day off after he made his return from ankle surgery Saturday, the lineup had a less-intimidating look about it. And the results matched the look, with only three runners reaching scoring position and only of those reaching third base: Michael A. Taylor, who stole the bag with two outs in the fifth and Scherzer at plate. (Scherzer proceeded to ground out to end the inning.)

The only moment of potential excitement came in the bottom of the ninth, when Bryce Harper faced Hunter Strickland for the first time since the two incited a bench-clearing brawl in San Francisco last Memorial Day. Alas, Harper grounded out, leaving him 2-for-3 with two homers and one hit-by-pitch in his career against the Giants closer.

And so the Nationals lost again on Dream Foundation Gala Sunday. This was the seventh time in the last eight years they've lost the day after they hold their annual charity banquet, according to research by Patrick Stevens of the Associated Press. Even a bumping of first pitch to 4:05 p.m. to give players more time to rest before coming to the park hasn't helped reverse the trend.

Perhaps a day off Monday - and, more importantly, the potential season debut of Daniel Murphy on Tuesday - will snap the Nats lineup out of its doldrums.