Harper knew Davies was good from his childhood days

Offensively, it just wasn't the Nationals' night in an 8-0 setback to the visiting Brewers.

The Nats went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and managed only five hits. They left eight men on base. Only one of their three doubles came with a runner on base.

Bryce Harper's double with two outs and Stephen Drew on first in the eighth was their best chance to put multiple runs on the board. A Ryan Zimmerman grounder ended that threat.

Drew reached second base in the first and Anthony Rendon doubled in the second, but Brewers starter Zach Davies was too good to allow the Nats to ever get a rally going.

Zimmerman (1-for-4) said Davies did a nice job of making the Nats hitters guess more than they would want to in each at-bat.

"Mix and match. Didn't really make too many mistakes," Zimmerman said. "He's one of those guys where he kind of throws it to both sides of the plate: has the sinker, cutter, curve, change. There's not many of those guys any more, but he pitched well. Couple of times we faced him I feel like he's been tough on us. Got to give him a little bit of credit, too."

Harper (1-for-4) agreed with Zimmerman on Davies' ability to mix his pitches. Harper has known Davies since he was a little kid. Davies grew up in Arizona and Harper played for a traveling team called the McDowell Mountain Yankees in Scottsdale.

"He's always been good, ever since we were younger," Haper recalled. "I grew up playing with him. So he's always been tough. Throwing that sinker, throwing that changeup, mixing it in in good counts.

"Sometimes you just go out there and try to get to him, and sometimes you gotta tip your cap. He did his job tonight. I've played with Davies ever since we were 10 or 11 years old. He grew up as a shortstop and got to the mound, and he's done his thing this year. Shoot, 12 wins, that's big time. Tip your cap tonight, and try to get 'em tomorrow."

Davies pitched 7 2/3 innings, scattering three hits, allowing no runs with three walks and striking out seven. He fired 114 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Manager Dusty Baker was surprised to see before the game that Davies' ERA was 4.76. But he did have an 11-4 record.

"Davies was good. I can't believe his ERA is what it is because every time I've seen him, he's been good," Baker said. "He threw first-pitch breaking ball. He had that working tonight. His sinker and his changeup were working. He had everything working tonight. We didn't pose much offense tonight. We had a couple runners get to second or third. He threw a very good game against us."

It was the third time since July 8 the Nats have been shut out in a game. That hadn't happened once in the first three months of the season. And Davies seems to have the ability excel on the road: now 13-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 25 starts.

Harper said Davies' key to success doesn't come from overpowering stuff, but instead pinpoint strike zone corner command.

"Nah, that's how he pitches," Harper said. "Nibble. He reminds me a lot of (Kyle) Hendricks with the Cubs. Does his job, goes out there, gets ground balls, never panics, does things out there that work to his advantage, and he did that tonight."