Scherzer delivers All-Star performance again in Nats' 3-2 win

BALTIMORE - Max Scherzer bypassed an opportunity to start for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game, opting instead to take the mound for this afternoon's series finale against the Orioles. The much belabored decision turned out to be bad news for Baltimore as Scherzer yielded only two solo homers to fellow All-Star Adam Jones and the Nationals went on to take the series with a 3-2 win.

Jones' second home run cut the Nats' lead to one with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, costing Scherzer a shot at his fourth complete game of the season as manager Matt Williams chose to call on closer Drew Storen. Storen completely overmatched Chris Davis, striking the slugger out with a nasty slider to claim his 27th save.

"I was good," said Scherzer, whose fastball was still popping at 96 mph in the ninth. "I mean I felt strong. I was ready to go as long as I could. Obviously skip made a good decision to go to Storen there once Jones hit a home run. But I felt strong even in the ninth."

Jones yanked a Scherzer's curveball over the left field wall to give the Orioles an early lead in the first. But then the dominant right-hander took over, retiring 14 straight batters until the sixth inning.

Scherzer's command of the strike zone was once again pristine as he struck out seven without issuing a walk. Dating back to his one-hit win in Milwaukee on June 14, Scherzer has now thrown 40 1/3 consecutive innings without walking a batter. Meanwhile, he has fanned 41 over that stretch.

"I was executing pitches," Scherzer said. "Again, a start with no walks allows you to pitch efficiently and pitch deep into games, and that can always help the ballclub. I'm proud of that."

10-year veteran Dan Uggla has been a vital part of the Nationals' bench throughout the first half of the season. The 35-year-old saw his first game action since Tuesday and delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to tie the game in the fourth. After the game, though, Uggla's focus was on Scherzer's determination to close out the first half of the season with a victory.

"That's just Max," Uggla said. "He's a competitor. He's a team guy. He's a horse. There was never a doubt that he was gonna pitch today. I'm sure he wanted to pitch in the All-Star Game, but it's team first then go get 'em after that."

Tyler Moore followed Uggla with a two-run double to give the Nationals the lead for good. In addition, Moore came up with several stellar defensive plays to help Scherzer limit the Orioles to just four hits.

"(Scherzer's) been unbelievable all year," Moore said. "Every time he goes out, it seems like he's going for a complete game. It's great to see. It's great to play behind and fortunate we have him."

Storen spends most games in the bullpen marveling at Scherzer's approach and repertoire.

"It's amazing," Storen said. "It's one of those things where I've told people before you see a guy pitch kinda from afar and then you to tend to play with them and you kinda maybe pick somebody apart a little bit more and maybe not be as impressed. But he's been beyond that.

"He's extremely impressive every time he goes. He just goes out and attacks guys. He can throw any pitch in any count. There's very few guys in the league with that kind of stuff that can do that."

Scherzer has been lauded for being a leader in the Nats' clubhouse since showing up to spring training five months ago. Though expected, his decision to start today, coupled with his ability to back it up, clearly left further inspiration for the Nationals, who head to the second half of the season holding a two game lead in the National League East.

"It's unreal," Moore said. "It puts everything in perspective. It makes us know that we're more important, and it's awesome to see."