Scherzer shines under bright spotlight

WASHINGTON — This was a big occasion. Max Scherzer rose to it. And then he rose above it.

It becomes harder and harder to outperform the hype in a multimedia world. But Scherzer did it Wednesday night at Nationals Park. He became just the fourth pitcher in Major League history to strike out 20 batters in a game.

Scherzer was aided, he acknowledged, by the circumstances for this one game, his Nationals against his former team, the Tigers. There was symmetry to the whole event. This was the battle of the free-agent pitchers who had changed places; Scherzer from Detroit to Washington, Jordan Zimmermann from Washington to Detroit.

Roaring 20! Max ties mark • K’s to the Max: Scherzer ties mark with 20 • DYK: Facts, stats from Scherzer’s 20-K gem • Nationals awed by Scherzer, but not surprised • Scherzer saved season’s best pitches for Miggy • Bauman: Scherzer shines under bright spotlight • Ausmus has had a front-row seat for K history • Cut4: Scherzer punctuates night with glove toss • Full game coverageSights & soundsScherzer ties record with 20th strikeoutScherzer on tying recordBaker on Scherzer’s 20 K’sPhoto gallery

There was drama, too, along with all the strikeouts. The Nats won, 3-2. Credit Zimmermann for grinding through seven innings to keep this game close. Even the most dominant performance requires strong supporting actors.

“Facing a former team, and I know all those guys — we’ve been catching up over the past couple of days — tonight was an emotional game,” Scherzer said. “Facing a former team and all those guys I have so much respect for how they play the game and how they compete, I really think the world of how they go out and play the game.

“So to have a game like this against that caliber of hitters, that really puts a feather in my cap.”

Scherzer had obviously been disappointed with his last start, a completely uncharacteristic outing in which he gave …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com