PHILADELPHIA _ A few hours before he toyed with the Phillies, Max Scherzer grabbed a few pieces of paper that detailed how a free-swinging lineup full of young hitters would be the ideal victims for the Washington ace. Scherzer beckoned his pitching coach and catcher for a pregame meeting in the visitors clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park.
"Let's do this," Scherzer said.
It required five innings in a 3-2 Nationals win for the Phillies to muster a hit. Freddy Galvis tomahawked a 94-mph fastball to the right-field corner for a double to start the sixth. Two batters later, Scherzer picked off Galvis.
Ryan Howard, who will play less in September, cracked a two-run, opposite-field homer on a Scherzer fastball in the seventh. It was not enough.
The Phillies made it competitive, but the fight was not fair. They entered the day with the worst on-base percentage (.297) in baseball. The Phillies had swung at 49 percent of pitches thrown at them, the highest rate among National League teams. Their 11.2 percent swing-and-miss rate was also highest in the league, and Scherzer boasted more strikeouts (227) than any other pitcher in baseball before Tuesday.
This is what happens when a first-place team meets a rebuilding one. Earlier this decade, the roles were reversed. Baseball, like life, is cyclical. So it goes.
Howard's time in Philadelphia has dwindled to one month. He started as the cleanup hitter Tuesday despite a lifetime 1-for-18 mark against Scherzer, with 11 strikeouts. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin reasoned that few hitters have good numbers vs. Scherzer, so he opted for the left-handed-hitting Howard. The home run was his 20th of the season.
Mackanin said he plans to "lean on" Tommy Joseph for the remainder of the season. Howard has started 14 games in August, while Joseph has made 12 starts. The rookie Joseph will earn more starts against right-handed pitchers. That decision, Mackanin said, is his.
"It makes sense to see Joseph as much as possible," Mackanin said. "Howie was swinging the bat extremely well. I'm just going to see if (Joseph) can put something together now."
With Scherzer on the mound, it is hard for the Phillies to put anything together. Since joining the Nationals, he has made eight starts against the Phillies. He has a 1.98 ERA in those games.
In all, Scherzer has started 61 times for Washington. He has carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning in nine of those starts. That means 15 percent of the time, he has toyed with history. Something special could happen one in every seven starts.
Really, Scherzer is a show every time steps onto a mound, no matter the quality of the opponent. He retired the first 12 batters of the game on 39 pitches. Cameron Rupp drew a five-pitch walk with one out in the fifth. Then, on Scherzer's 56th pitch, Galvis spoiled the no-hitter.
Scherzer fanned 11 in eight innings. He overpowered the Phillies.
