Scherzer goes the distance in 10-3 rout over Cubs (updated)

This was going to be a long, aggravating day and night at the ballpark no matter what took place on the field. Such is life when you're attempting to play a doubleheader after failing to even complete 1 1/2 innings the previous night due to rain, with more rain certain to fall in different waves during the course of this day and night.

But for all the aggravation, there was at least this bit of consolation for the Nationals and their fans: They were going to get to see Max Scherzer pitch. And pitch exceptionally well, as it turned out.

After waiting out a 2-hour, 10-minute delay at the outset, Scherzer took the mound to face the Cubs and put forth one of his best performances of the season during a 10-3 victory for the Nationals.

"Max was awesome," manager Davey Martinez said. "I can't say enough about him, so kudos to him and what he went out there today to do."

What the three-time Cy Young Award winner did was go the distance, recording his second complete game of the season and holding Chicago to three garbage-time runs while striking out 11 and finishing this off on 111 pitches.

Four of the eight hits Scherzer allowed came during the top of the ninth, and that prompted a mound visit from Martinez with one out and Kris Bryant stepping to the plate. The mound visit didn't, however, result in a pitching change. Martinez let Scherzer finish what he started.

"I liked what I saw," the manager said. "But I kind of just wanted to hear it from him."

"I knew how much I got in the tank; I had plenty in the tank," Scherzer said. "We had been (playing in) some hot games, and for the weather to cool off, you just feel like you had unlimited energy. And for me I still had plenty in the tank."

It was a masterful performance by Scherzer (17-6, 2.31 ERA, 271 strikeouts) against a good Cubs lineup, and it perhaps reminded Cy Young voters who have been looking at Jacob deGrom and Aaron Nola in recent weeks not to forget about the guy who has taken home that award the last two seasons.

The pre-game rain delay may have been interminable, but the actual game itself was quite entertaining, certainly for fans of the home team. The Nationals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of three walks issued by Jaime Garcia and RBI singles by Juan Soto and Matt Wieters (the latter coming off reliever and former teammate Brandon Kintzler, appearing much earlier in a game than normal).

That was music to Scherzer's ears. The ace allowed a one-out double to Tommy La Stella under first baseman Mark Reynolds' glove in the top of the first, but that was the only baserunner he allowed for five innings.

Leaning heavily on his fastball, Scherzer was effective and efficient, reversing a negative trend from recent starts that saw him forced to depart earlier than usual due to high pitch counts. He retired 15 in a row during one stretch. And though he allowed a run on three singles in the seventh, by that point he was pitching with an 8-0 lead.

The Nationals tacked on five extra runs during the bottom of the sixth, an ugly inning that saw the Cubs commit two errors, throw two wild pitches and issue two walks (one with the bases loaded).

Then, as the rain began to fall again, they added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, with Scherzer himself delivering a single up the middle for his sixth RBI of the season.

Just another fantastic performance for the ace, setting the stage for the finale of a long day and night at the park.

"He just told me he could pitch game two," Martinez said. "I told him: We're good."