This is one game that Nats fans should not watch again. It was bad in most facets of the game, and Max Scherzer melted down on the mound in a pool of sweat in the Atlanta humidity. He was pulled after the 4th inning giving up 6 earned runs. Six days ago, Scherzer threw a complete game that he labored through on 111-pitches and whether or not there was residual effect — only Scherzer would know. This loss against the Braves sent the Nats back to the .500 mark on the season, and the Braves piled on some runs at the end to make the final score 10-5.
“Max wasn’t Max tonight,” manager Dave Martinez said. “His location wasn’t there. He struggled.”
The Nationals lone highlight was the 20th home run from Juan Soto, and you would be hard pressed to find many more positives until Mark Reynolds had a pinch-hit double that nearly tied the game up if it went 5-feet further.
There were once again fundamental mistakes by the Nationals, poor pitching, bad situational hitting, and some questionable umpiring that created some shouting between Laz Diaz from behind the plate to Bryce Harper who was 350 feet away on defense in centerfield. You have to see it to believe it.
