Before completing his no-hitter against the New York Mets tonight, Washington Nationals' starter Max Scherzer took a long walk around the mound. "'Here we go. Let's go. It's on,'" Scherzer told himself. "I'm pumping myself up. I know what's at stake and I want it."
Max Scherzer finished the first year of his 7-year/$210M contract with the Washington Nationals (14-12) with a 2.79 ERA, a 2.77 FIP, 34 walks (1.34 BB/9), 276 Ks (10.86 K/9) and two no-hitters.
Just as he did earlier this season, when he flirted with a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers through six innings in the start before he no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates in June, Scherzer teased a no-hit bid in his last start, taking it into the eighth before the Cincinnati Reds got a hit, then went out and got it right in the follow-up, striking out 17 of the 28 batters he faced in New York on the way to completing his second no-hitter of the year.