Scherzer goes the distance to stop Nats' skid, win 2-0

With a five-game losing streak on their minds and an exhausted set of relievers in their bullpen, the Nationals tonight turned to the kind of guy who is hardwired to solve all of his team's woes in one brilliant pitching performance.

Max Scherzer is the ace of this club, and the National League's back-to-back Cy Young Award winner for a reason. And that reason was on full display tonight before 19,528 brave souls who sat through another frigid evening at the park but were rewarded with a 2-0 victory over the Braves made possible by the latest gem from the best in the business.

Scherzer went the distance, needing only 102 pitches to notch the fifth shutout of his career, his first since 2015. He struck out 10, walked no one and never gave the Braves any reason to think they had a realistic shot.

It was the 17th time Scherzer has struck out at least 10 batters without issuing a walk in his career, sixth on the all-time list behind a who's who of pitchers (Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Clayton Kershaw, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez).

This one couldn't have come at a better time for the Nationals, who after needing six relievers to churn out seven innings during Sunday night's marathon loss were counting on Scherzer to deliver an ace-like performance tonight. He delivered. And thanks to another first-inning rally by his teammates, he was able to pitch with a lead throughout.

The Nats jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Julio Teheran, though it required a clutch, two-out hit from Howie Kendrick after Ryan Zimmerman struck out looking at a fastball in the veteran cleanup man's latest poor at-bat with runners in scoring position. This one didn't cost the club, though, after Kendrick picked his teammate up with a double down the third base line, bringing home Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper.

Teheran, whose troubles against the Nationals as a whole and Harper in particular are well known, gave them plenty more chances to tack on throughout the evening, but they couldn't convert and thus left Scherzer with only minimal margin for error.

Fortunately, Scherzer didn't need much support on this particular night. He set the tone with a 1-2-3 top of the first, striking out a pair. And he never let up.

Only two Braves batters reached in the first seven innings against Scherzer: Kurt Suzuki, who singled up the middle in the second but was erased on a double play, and Nick Markakis, who led off the fifth with a single but never advanced past first base.

Scherzer was especially effective against Freddie Freeman, striking out the notorious Nat-killer twice and getting him to popup to third in his other at-bat in one of the most effective performances anyone on this pitching staff has enjoyed against the Braves slugger.

Keeping his pitch count low, Scherzer positioned himself to go deep into the night, and he only got more efficient along the way, hopping off the mound with each strikeout and marching back to the dugout when each inning ended with another zero on the board.

And then just for good measure, Scherzer broke out his bat and his legs in the bottom of the seventh. He led off the inning with a sharp single down the right field line, then caught reliever Peter Moylan completely off-guard when he broke for second base and was nearly halfway there before the pitch was delivered. Suzuki didn't even bother attempting to throw out Scherzer, who had the sparse crowd roaring at the first stolen base of his career.

On a night like this, the ace could do no wrong.