Scherzer rebounds after walk-filled first inning to earn win

It was about as uncharacteristic a pitching display as Max Scherzer is capable of displaying. Three walks in one inning? He had only issued three or more walks in four games this season.

Yet there it was Friday night for all to see. During a laborious, 28-pitch top of the first, Scherzer gave free passes to Odúbel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins and Hyun Soo Kim of the Phillies.

Oh, there also was a three-run homer served up to Nick Williams. But that was secondary to the walks in Scherzer's mind.

"That's what you kick yourself over," he said. "I was trying to throw a fastball in to Williams and I left it over the middle of the plate. That happens. I can live with that. It's the walks that drive me nuts. I can't just allow free passes to happen."

Friday night's start won't rank high on Scherzer's list come season's end. But to his credit, he bounced back from that ragged first inning and cruised for the next four before fading in the sixth. He departed having allowed four total runs on six hits and thrown 104 pitches. It wasn't a quality start, but thanks to a ton of offensive support from his teammates, Scherzer still was credited with his 14th win during the Nationals' 11-10 squeaker over the Phillies.

"Our offense bailed him out tonight," manager Dusty Baker said. "This is what a team does. You score what you need. I'm glad it happened in the first inning and not in the middle innings, because that gave him time to come back."

The good news for Scherzer: The bruised calf that knocked him out of his last start and continued to bother him for several days after didn't affect him in this game. And he expressed confidence it won't be a factor moving forward.

But that top of the first will gnaw at Scherzer for a while longer. It certainly did after he returned to the dugout at the end of the inning.

"You've gotta let some frustration out, so I definitely threw my glove pretty good," he said with a laugh. "If you're not frustrated after that first inning, I don't know what is."

Scherzer refocused by trying to figure out what he needed to work on, what he needed to execute to turn his start around. He decided that re-establishing his cutter was the key, and he managed to pull that off.

"This game for me tonight wasn't the prettiest," he said. "Not a lot of first-pitch strikes, falling behind guys. But at least that pitch itself, I was able to start finding it back and get a good feel for it. That's what I'm really taking out of this game."