Nationals Park was nearly empty when Washington topped Atlanta 6-2 Sunday evening — almost 40,000 fans had been chased out of the stadium hours before by a midsummer monsoon.
But they left knowing starter Max Scherzer had again staked the Nationals to a lead most competitive teams could hang on to.
This time, the Nationals did, though they had to outlast a long rain delay first.
It wasn’t Scherzer at his best, and coming two days after he confronted ineffective teammate Stephen Strasburg in the dugout Friday, the Nationals’ ace had his own troubles.