On April 6, 2015, Max Scherzer took the mound at Nationals Park and began his seven-year tenure with the Washington Nationals with the type of performance that’s come to define his time in the nation’s capital: a dominant, 97-pitch outing in which he retired 17 straight batters at one point.
Scherzer was saddled with the loss, even though he gave up no earned runs. A hit following an error led to two unearned runs for the New York Mets, spoiling an otherwise standout beginning to Scherzer’s Washington career.
In the grand scheme of a 162-game season, opening day doesn’t mean much.