Harper slams homer, Scherzer pitches another gem in 3-0 win

In a scoreless duel, and almost on cue, Bryce Harper again played hero for the Nationals in a 3-0 victory over the Phillies on Saturday night.

With a 0-0 score and just 10 hits on the board split between the squads, the Nats scored three runs in the eighth courtesy of a dramatic home run for Harper, his 24th of the season. A 3-1 offering by the Phillies Patrick Schuster was driven high into the night sky down the right field line and bounced well into the back of the Nats bullpen.

Manager Dusty Baker repeated that his right fielder has a flair for the dramatic, especially after a tough start to the game.

"It's not how far, it's how many," Baker said. "Boy, that was a dramatic home run, especially that shows how strong he is mentally - after you strike out three times and then you hit a home run. He had a rough night going up until then. That came right on time because we needed it."

Ben Revere had singled with one out and Daniel Murphy walked to set the stage for Harper, who now has 80 RBIs on the season.

"I got pretty good wood on it," Harper said of the blast. "It felt good and I definitely knew it was out of the yard. There was a lot of emotion right there. I was pretty fired up to get that W.

"Down the stretch, you want to win as many games as you can so that you can get hot at the right time and take this into the postseason with you. We've gotta lock this thing up. (The) Mets are playing well, teams are playing well. We've just gotta play to the best of our ability and play baseball."

The Mets lost to the Braves 4-3 in 10 innings, so the Nats' magic number dropped to 12.

Max Scherzer went 6 2/3 innings and allowed no runs on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. His pitch count reached 117 pitches, 76 for strikes. He issued one walk, struck out eight and hit two batters with pitches.

He said it wasn't easy because the Phillies have seen him and all his secrets several times this season.

"They grinded me apart," Scherzer said. "I just faced this team a week ago. They know what I have. They put together some really good at bats and kept fouling balls off. When you see somebody multiple times, you're going to be able what I'm trying to do. They were able to fight me off. Really ran my pitch count up. Once I got in that situation, I knew I needed to try to find a way to pitch efficiently so I could get through six and was able to collect some outs there.

"I got some first-pitch swings, some first-pitch outs and then just kind of dared them to hit a fastball. Fortunately enough, I was able to continue to get those outs quickly. That's what allowed me to pitch into the sixth and into the seventh tonight."

Baker said Scherzer once again displayed his Cy Young Award resume with an effort like this one: 117 pitches and zero runs allowed.

"I've been thinking that all along when him and Strasburg were fighting it out with (the Cubs' Jake) Arrieta and some of the top guys in this league," Baker said. "(The Giants') Johnny Cueto is having a good year. Boy, quite a few guys are having a good year. Wish we had got that victory for Max because he doesn't have that many starts left. But he was happy as anybody, especially that we won the ballgame and he gave us a chance to win."

Harper certainly believes his teammate deserves another Cy Young.

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely. He's been unbelievable for us," Harper said. "I think it's huge that he's got a great ballclub behind him every single night. Every time he goes out there, he's got the ability to do something special. If there's a guy we want on the mound in any given spot or on any given day, it's him."

Phillies starter Jared Eickhoff matched Scherzer, going six innings, allowing no runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. But the Nationals were able to get to the Phillies bullpen, setting the stage for Harper.

Closer Mark Melancon recorded three outs in the ninth for his 40th save of the season and 10th with the Nationals. He has now recorded at least 40 saves in back-to-back seasons and has a combined 91 saves since the beginning of 2015.