Back in Detroit, Scherzer strikes out 14 in 2-1 Nats win

DETROIT - When at Comerica Park, Max Scherzer usually pitches really, really well.

The veteran right-hander spent five seasons with the Tigers, reaching the World Series with them in 2012 and winning the Cy Young for the first time in 2013.

He felt right at home again Sunday.

In firing 115 pitches, Scherzer allowed only one run over eight innings, striking out 14 as he Nationals won the game 2-1 and the series against the Tigers.

Washington has won 10 of its last 13 and gets back above .500 again at 42-41.

Anthony Rendon scored both runs, coming on on Kurt Suzuki's RBI single in the fourth after doubling and a hitting a tiebreaking homer in the eighth.

Scherzer went 6-0 in June as the Nationals turned around their fortunes. They were 18-8 over the past 30 days. He allowed only five earned runs this month, while striking out 68 in those six starts.

"Just in rhythm," Scherzer said of this run. "Rhythm with my mechanics and have the shape of every off-speed pitch, all five of 'em really. To be able to execute them where I want to. Not trying to make mistakes with 'em, execute where I want to and then, when I can sequence, it gives (Suzuki) the ability to call anything and we can just game plan.

"We know what we want to throw when we want to throw it. The great thing that's been described as rhythm is there's times when I'm on the mound and I'll be thinking, 'This is a great time for this pitch,' and then Zuk just calls it and I don't even have to shake to it. That's kind of the rhythm that we're in, just us both, how we're able to attack a lineup."

Sean Doolittle came on to record a scoreless ninth for his 18th save, but it wasn't easy. The Tigers' Nicholas Castellanos singled and later Brandon Dixon walked. But Doolittle got Niko Goodrum to fly out to left to end the game.

"We made sure we checked all the boxes and made it as eventful as possible," Doolittle said of the adventurous ninth. "They're not always 1-2-3 innings. There is, I do believe, an art form to kind of managing that damage, managing that energy in that inning and that's what makes it so difficult.

"There's no gray area. It's a high wire act and you are playing with fire. To come through for my team now 100 times over the course of my career, that's pretty cool. I'm excited about it."

In his last two starts against the Tigers dating to the memorable 20-strikeout performance at Nats Park in 2016, Scherzer has 34 strikeouts.

Rendon blasted a solo homer to right field off Tigers reliever Joe Jiménez to break a 1-1 tie in the eighth, putting the Nats up 2-1. It was his 19th of the season and traveled 366 feet.

Washington has hit at least one homer in 15 consecutive games, a new Nationals record.

Dixon had launched a solo homer to right field to get the Tigers on the board, tying the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh. His 11th of the season came on an 0-1 pitch and traveled an estimated 358 feet.

But that did not faze Scherzer. He recorded five outs in a row after the homer, four by strikeout.

"That's what you put all the work in for," Scherzer said. "Everything I train for to make sure that I'm at my best and throw the best pitches I can late in the game. Tonight or today, we needed it - 2-1 ballgame in the eighth. Those are the deciding pitches of if it's a tie game or if we're winning."

Scherzer struck out 10 batters or more for the 90th time in his career and eighth time this season. He has struck out 10 or more batters in four straight starts. Scherzer moved into 25th place on the all-time strikeout list, surpassing Tom Glavine and Chuck Finley, and now has 2,619 punchouts. He is now 47-13 at Comerica Park.

"He's been really good this month," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "I say this again: He's been good all year. Now he's starting to win ballgames, but he's been unbelievable. He really has. The work that he puts in daily, as you can see ,pays off for him every fifth day. I'm just glad I'm on his side and not watching from the other side because when he pitches, it's really, really tremendous."