Soto keeps adding to rookie legacy (game tied 1-1)

With each passing day, Juan Soto does something else that makes you pause to remember just how remarkable the Nationals rookie's season has been. No matter his age.

Soto added to the growing legend tonight when he homered in the bottom of the first. To the opposite field. Off a left-hander. On an 0-2 pitch.

This, of course, has become commonplace for the 19-year-old since he burst onto the scene 2 1/2 months ago and started doing things few (if any) 19-year-olds have ever done before on a major league baseball field.

Soto now has 14 homers in 67 big league games. Only Tony Conigliaro (24), Bryce Harper (22), Mel Ott (18) and Ken Griffey Jr. (16) hit more home runs as a teenager in baseball history. And Soto still has as many as 49 games left to play this season.

Soto's performance goes way beyond the home runs, though. He reached base five times in the opener of today's doubleheader, three via walk (one intentional). He now has 49 walks since making his debut on May 20, a number surpassed by only two National League players (Carlos Santana and Joey Votto) in that timeframe.

Tonight's home run off Sean Newcomb gave the Nats a quick 1-0 lead, which they managed to hold through three innings thanks to the typical excellence on the mound by Max Scherzer.

Scherzer completed three scoreless frames on 38 pitches, allowing only two Atlanta batters to reach base. Both did so with two-out singles in the top of the second. Scherzer responded by inducing an inning-ending groundball out of Dansby Swanson.

Scherzer also is contributing at the plate again. His third-inning single to right extended his hitting streak to six games and raised his season batting average to .306.

Update: We've got a pitchers' duel here. Scherzer tossed five scoreless, but then Charlie Culberson reached down and lofted a slider in the top of the sixth over the left field fence. That's the Braves' lone run off Scherzer tonight, but it's enough to make this a 1-1 game. The Nats haven't been able to make another dent into Newcomb since Soto's homer in the first.