Scherzer wins duel with Wheeler as Nats beat Phillies (updated)

The script couldn't have gone any better for manager Davey Martinez and the Nationals on Friday night.

Unsure of his starting pitcher for Sunday's series finale in Philadelphia, and needing length from his next two starters to preserve the bullpen, Martinez turned to Max Scherzer to provide one of his usual deep outings to start this series against a division rival.

And Scherzer did just that, winning a pitchers' duel with Phillies starter Zack Wheeler and helping the Nationals take the opener 2-1 in front of 15,030 fans on the first night Citizens Bank Park was open at 100 percent capacity.

Both starters came out pumping gas, as they have for much of this season: Scherzer was sitting at 95 mph and topping out at 96 mph, while Wheeler was sitting at 98 mph and reaching 99 mph.

The two starters combined for 17 strikeouts and 38 swings and misses over the course of the night. So it was a matter of who was going to make a mistake first.

Or maybe who would run into some bad luck first.

Either way, the answer was Wheeler. After issuing a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth to Trea Turner, Wheeler gave up an RBI bloop double to left field by Josh Bell for a 1-0 lead.

But then Scherzer allowed the Phillies to tie the game in the bottom of the inning in similar fashion. After a leadoff single, Jean Segura stole second base to put himself in scoring position for J.T. Realmuto, who was 3-for-41 off Scherzer in his career. In his 44th career at-bat against the Nats ace, Realmuto was able to connect for just his fourth hit off Scherzer to score Segura and tie the game at 1-1.

No matter, because Scherzer would bounce right back to strike out the side in the fifth inning with a high number of fastballs and a good mix of curveballs. Scherzer relied heavily on his fastball early on in the game and then switched to his off-speed stuff for the later half of his outing to get deeper into the game.

"I figured it was going to happen because they came out really aggressive and I was able to just collect some early outs early in the ballgame on a lot of first pitches." Scherzer said in a Zoom session with reporters. "I think there in the second or third, like it was only a five-pitch inning. So that allowed me to keep the pitch count down in the early part of the game and then just try to grind out those middle innings to give yourself a shot late in the game."

Then he was granted the lead right back in the top of the sixth thanks to another Juan Soto home run to left-center field. Soto connected on a Wheeler fastball left over the middle of the plate for his seventh homer of the season and third in four games. Over his last five games, Soto is 6-for-15 with three home runs, seven RBIs and six walks. He also gave Wheeler a look as he rounded the bases, just his competitive edge coming out.

"To be competitive. I like to be competitive," Soto said.

He also likes to hit at Citizens Bank Park, where he now has a .317 average with 11 home runs, 17 runs and 26 RBIs in 21 games.

"I like the field, I like the stadium," Soto said. "It's pretty small, the ball flies. I like it. I don't know, man. I just try to come here, try to do the same thing against every team. Just try to put the ball in play, try to help my team as much as I can and try to take advantage of the field. Just try to get the ball to the other way and let it travel."

Pitching with the lead, Scherzer emptied the tank to give his team as many outs as he could give them. He faced the minimum in the sixth, thanks to Alex Avila throwing out Realmuto trying to steal second base after being hit by a pitch. And then, after giving up a one-out double to Andrew McCutchen in the seventh, Scherzer struck out Alec Bohm and got Ronald Torreyes to pop out to Bell at first base.

"I was able to get a good mix in, starting to get a feel for all five pitches," Scherzer said. "I had an idea of what I wanted to do and just work with Alex and just stick with the mix - in, out, up, down, soft, hard, everything. So when I can do that, that gives Alex a lot of freedom to be able to get creative and call a good game."

Scherzer came out to start the eighth inning to face pinch-hitter Matt Joyce in the pitcher's spot and then the top of the order. He struck out Joyce and then got Odúbel Herrera to fly out to center field, both on changeups, before Martinez called on Daniel Hudson to finish the inning, which he did by striking out Segura on four pitches.

"He looked good. He was getting tired," Martinez said of the decision to let Scherzer tstart the eighth inning. "I really just wanted him to try to get an out. He got the first out, we let him get the second out, and at that point, I wanted to bring Huddy in. But he was phenomenal tonight. Once again, he had a great outing, mixed in all his pitches, threw some really good changeups when he needed to, but all of his pitches were electric tonight."

Scherzer's final line: 7 2/3 innings, five hits, one run, one walk, nine strikeouts and a hit batter on 108 pitches, 70 for strikes.

Scherzer has now allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his starts this season. The Nationals scored enough runs tonight to win their sixth game in such Scherzer starts.

"Fortunately, we were able to scratch a couple of runs across and that was huge, especially for Josh to be able to get that RBI single and be able to score a run and then obviously Soto with an oppo taco," Scherzer said. "So just get a couple of runs, get the lead and just go back to executing pitches."

Hudson and Brand Hand combined to close out the victory, though it wasn't without some drama.

Rhys Hoskins just missed a game-tying home run to lead off the ninth inning, instead settling for a double off the wall in right field where Soto couldn't make the catch. Then with Travis Jankowski pinch-running at second base, Hudson faced Realmuto, who represented the winning run.

After the sixth pitch of the at-bat to make it a full count, Avila made the heads-up play of the night to catch Jankowski in the middle of the base path and tag him out in a rundown by running right at him. Hudson then proceeded to strike out Realmuto on the next pitch and Hand then came on to get Brad Miller to fly out to center to seal the win.

"It's a pretty fundamental play at least for a catcher when the runner is caught in the middle like that, just running after him and running at him, kinda cutting off third and trying to get him in a rundown," Avila explained. "I used to practice that in college."

"We were all excited," Martinez said. "I mean, it's a huge play. Huge play, especially just up one run in the ninth inning there. So like I said, a good, smart play by a veteran catcher."

So ended the absolute picture-perfect night for a Nationals team in desperate need to save their bullpen arms before Sunday (except maybe without the ninth-inning drama).

And so also ended Martinez's 225th regular season win as the Nationals skipper, making him the winningest manager in team history.

"It's awesome, but I can sit here and tell you I didn't do it myself," Martinez said. "I got the coaching staff, the trainers, all of the supporting cast behind me, and I appreciate them and I thank them very much. I told the players, 'Hey, couldn't do it without you guys neither. You're the reason why I love what I love and that's this game.' So kudos to them. I got a beer shower, so I'm soaking wet right now. You guys can't see, but I'm dripping wet right now."

When asked if he was going to savor any special memorabilia to commemorate the achievement, he answered in the most Davey Martinez way possible.

"I'm actually good with the memorabilia," Martinez said. "I just want to go 1-0 tomorrow, these guys know that. So I appreciate what the've done but let's move on, let's go 1-0 tomorrow."

That's a matter of if they can get a similar result from Joe Ross on Saturday.