Scherzer gets ahead early, finishes strong

SAN DIEGO - With runners on the corners and his pitch count climbing near 100, Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer reached back and found something extra to end a Padres threat with back-to-back strikeouts in the seventh inning last night.

"I always believe your last 15 pitches kind of dictate how you feel about your start," Scherzer said. "I was still able to pitch at my best. Still had my best fastball. Still had my best stuff there, even when I was approaching the end. So when Willy (Ramos) has a good feel for what they're gonna do, I just kinda follow his lead."

Scherzer struck out Derek Norris and Abraham Almonte with blazing 95 mph heaters before leaving the mound filled with adrenaline.

"Most other guys are scared to throw the pitches with runners in scoring position," Ramos said. "He's not. He's more aggressive. He strike out one guy and his body language is very different. To me, that's very important."

Scherzer's final 15 pitches were close to his previous 89, as he held the Padres to only four hits while striking out a season-high 11 batters.

"He's just got the ability to dial it up when he needs to," Nats manager Matt Williams said. "He pitches it from 91 to 94 (mph) and then he can reach back when he needs to and run it in there. More of the same from Maxie."

Scherzer was ahead of the Padres all night, throwing 22 first-pitch strikes to the 27 batters he faced.

"That's something I always pride myself on is attacking the zone," Scherzer said. "Anytime you do that, you're in the zone and you're coming after them. That's something I'm proud of and I was able to do it - not only with the fastball but with off-speed as well."

When he did miss early, Scherzer's confidence in his repertoire didn't change.

"I'm not afraid to throw 2-0 changeups, 3-1 changeups or any type of off-speed at any time," Scherzer said. "When I'm able to bring those in to the zone, I feel like that's what allows me to stay effective when I'm behind in the count."

Ramos became familiar with Scherzer's intense demeanor right from the start when the two began working together in spring training.

"He's aggressive all the time, especially with runners in scoring position. ... He's aggressive all the time," Ramos said. "He attack the hitter really well. He works his pitches. He can do everything he wants with the stuff he has. Slider, curveball, changeup - everything works good. That kind of pitcher, you can call any pitch in the count. That makes me feel good because he's got confidence in me. So I can call whatever I want."

The Nationals have five wins in Scherzer's eight starts and he appears in the top 5 of nearly every important pitching stats category in the National League.

"To me, he is a very smart guy," Ramos said. "The communication between him and me is very important, so we stay on the same page. I was working with him all of spring training and we were working a lot. Hopefully, it stays like that for the rest of the season."