Nats blow out Rockies, won't pitch Scherzer in Game 162

DENVER - The Nationals wrapped up a seventh consecutive winning season tonight, and in the process ensured they will play a role in a wild Sunday in the National League, with four Game 162s all set to be played in unison to determine the winners of two divisions.

But not with Max Scherzer participating.

The Nationals' 12-2 drubbing of the Rockies left a crowd of 47,781 at Coors Field hoping to celebrate the franchise's first-ever NL West title muttering, occasionally booing and walking out of the park before the game ended.

Not that the season is over for those folks, not even close. The Rockies are guaranteed of at least a spot in Tuesday's wild card game, and they might yet win that elusive division title, heading into Sunday's finale deadlocked with the Dodgers at 90-71.

Both teams will play at 3:05 p.m. Eastern, as will the Cubs and Brewers (deadlocked atop the NL Central at 94-67) in an attempt to sort out postseason seeding without needing any Monday tiebreakers. Scherzer, though, will not start for the Nationals as was expected, instead passed over in favor of Erick Fedde out of organizational concerns about the ace's heavy workload.

Scherzer, who leads the majors with 220 2/3 innings and 3,493 pitches this season, would have taken the mound one last time if the outcome of this game could have eliminated another club. But the Dodgers' win ensured both they and the Rockies qualified for the postseason; Sunday's games will only determine which is division champ and which is a wild card.

"I really feel Max did his job," manager Davey Martinez said. "He threw 220 innings. And if anybody knows Max, he gives it all he's got every time he goes out. I want to make sure that he finished up the way he did, has a healthy winter and comes back ready for 2019. I understand integrity of the game, but both (the Dodgers and Rockies) are in it. I got to take care of my player, Max."

Scherzer, who on Friday expressed his desire to make the start if Colorado was still playing for something, met with Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo this afternoon once Los Angeles won its game and was told he wouldn't pitch after all.

"I was mentally ready to pitch, but I completely understand where Rizzo was coming from with this decision," the 34-year-old said. "I said from the beginning that this was his call, because of the nature of the beast that we're playing for nothing. So at the end of the day, he felt this was the best thing to do for the Washington Nationals, and that's all there really is to say."

Scherzer, who is 0-3 with a 5.88 ERA in five career starts at Coors Field, called this an important assignment for Fedde, the 25-year-old whose 14th MLB start will be a challenge unlike any he's faced to date.

"He needs innings. He needs to work. And he needs to get experience," Scherzer said. "This is going to be a heck of an atmosphere for him tomorrow, a chance to go out there and get a taste of what it's like to pitch in postseason-type baseball. So for our organization, that's the best thing for us."

The Nationals had known for a while this game wouldn't mean anything to their own season. They had already locked up second place in the NL East on Friday. And in improving to 82-79 tonight, they locked up their seventh consecutive winning season. No, it's not the goal they had in mind this season. But it's an achievement bettered only by the Yankees (26 straight winning seasons), Dodgers (eight) and Cardinals (seven), so it's not completely insignificant.

The Nationals got a complete performance tonight from their pitching staff (Stephen Strasburg went six strong innings) and lineup (six different players had multiple hits) to put together a complete victory.

Juan Soto's two-out, two-run, opposite-field double in the top of the first gave the Nats a quick 2-0 lead. And then they added on in the top of the second, knocking Colorado starter Jon Gray from the game much earlier than he or manager Bud Black preferred. Adam Eaton's RBI single made it a three-run lead, then Trea Turner's home run deep into the left field bleachers (his 19th of the season) made it a five-run lead and left some in the crowd booing the playoff-bound home team.

Presented with that seemingly comfortable lead - though the definition of a comfortable lead has to be adjusted when pitching at Coors Field - Strasburg got down to work. It took him a couple innings to find his groove, but once he did he continued his late-season surge to wrap up a disappointing 2018 on a positive note.

Strasburg allowed two solo homers (one to Carlos Gonzalez in the second, one to Nolan Arenado in the sixth) but otherwise he was effective against the Rockies' potent lineup. He retired 13-of-14 at one point, struck out seven overall and saw his fastball tick up several mph from early in the game (when it registered 92-93 mph) to late in the game (when it registered 94-95 mph).

Still, this concludes the worst season of Strasburg's career, at least based on his ERA (3.74) and WHIP (1.20). He made only 22 starts and totaled only 130 innings, missing 2 1/2 months with neck and shoulder injuries.

But, if there was a silver lining, it was the manner in which Strasburg concluded his season: healthy and effective. Over his final seven starts, he posted a 2.66 ERA.

"You always want to finish the season strong," he said. "I don't think my work is done, by any means. I'm going to assess this season. I think I've done a lot of that already. But I'll definitely want to go into the offseason and hit the ground running. By no means am I satisfied with how it went this year, and I'm sure a lot of other guys feel the same."