Tonight it was Anthony Rendon who came through with the game winning three-run home run with two outs to get the Nats to a 4-2 win, and it allowed Max Scherzer to get the win. The Nats entered the bottom of the 6th inning trailing 2-0, and Scherzer was pulled for a pinch-hitter. The only way for Scherzer to earn a win was for the Nats offense to score at least three runs in the bottom of the 6th, and the Nats got four runs!
The Diamondback starter, Matt Koch, was making his first career start and took a no-hitter into the 6th inning which was broken up when Jose Lobaton led off with a bloop single followed by a walk by Wilmer Difo (PH for Scherzer) and a walk by Trea Turner. The Nats scored their first run on a sacrifice fly and with two outs Rendon lined a three-run home run into the Diamondbacks bullpen.
Anthony Rendon’s home run was also his 500th hit of the career. Tonight’s win was the Nationals 92nd of the season. The Nats magic number for home field advantage is 5.
“We got to do what we have to do,” Dusty Baker said. “Bryce Harper was clamoring to get back into the line-up but he’s not ready and Murph’s not ready. You got to give those guys time to get to ready or else they will get more injured.”
Max Scherzer now has two of MLB's four 275-strikeout seasons since 2005. He's done it back-to-back years.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) September 28, 2016
Scherzer set a new Nationals’ record with his 277th strikeout of the season. That breaks Scherzer’s own mark he set in 2015 with 276 strikeouts.
Three players to finish a season with 30 SB, 10 HR, 100 games or fewer: Rickey Henderson, Bobby Bonds, Davey Lopes (Turner's 1B coach).
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) September 28, 2016
In context, Rickey Henderson was 28 years old when he accomplished that. Bobby Bonds was 30 years old. Davey Lopes was 40 years old. Trea Turner is a 23 year old rookie who will do it in under 75 games.
The Rally Starter!
And a special thank you to Kim Sheridan, a regular in Section 313, who held up this sign just before Jose Lobaton broke up the no-hitter and started the rally that ended with Anthony Rendon’s 3 run Home Run. So kudos to Kim for getting that game winning rally started.
