A baseball team has “only” 162 regular opportunities to claim victory each year, from opening day to the season finale. In the roughly 20 percent of contests typically started by Cy Young winners like Max Scherzer or Jacob deGrom, the odds of being triumphant improve significantly.
Fortunately for opponents, they aren’t forced to face such elite pitchers on a regular basis. Batters usually get to do some damage against lesser hurlers who might be merely good, at best. On those occasions, the hits and runs can pile up to keep the scoreboard operator busy.
But that wasn’t the case Thursday at Nationals Park – unless you’re referring to workers constantly updating the strikeout totals.
The Nationals’ Scherzer finished second to the New York Mets’ deGrom in the Cy Young voting last season, and Scherzer was on the short end of a 2-0 score in Washington’s season opener. His final line was award-worthy — two hits and two earned runs with a dozen strikeouts in 72/3 innings — but his counterpart matched that with a masterpiece of his own.
The Nationals figure to have plenty of scoring chances before the season ends. Presumably, they’ll even have a few more against deGrom, who scattered five hits and struck out 10 batters in six innings.
But they failed to break through the few times when deGrom allowed a crack.
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“You see what happens when two Cy Young winners go head-to-head,” Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton said. “That’s a heck of a battle.”
Unlike Washington, which left six runners on base — five while deGrom was on the mound — New York took advantage of the only mistake necessary. Second baseman Robinson Cano deposited a Scherzer change-up over the center field wall before the Nationals even batted.
“I wanted the pitch a little more away and it stayed a little more over the middle,” Scherzer said. “He’s a great hitter and he just put a great swing on it. Miss by a little too much over the middle in this league and you get burned.”
The margin for error is razor thin against an ace like deGrom and mistakes are magnified. An outright gaffe by center fielder Victor Robles (getting caught in a rundown between third base and home for an inning-ending double-play) and a few questionable decisions by manager Dave Martinez (including letting Scherzer bat in the seventh) can be surefire paths to defeat.
Scherzer deserved a better fate.
He threw 109 pitches and didn’t allow a runner past second base after Cano’s homer. The bullpen immediately ceded an insurance run when he departed with a runner on first; Justin Miller and Matt Grace gave up back-to-back singles. Meanwhile, New York’s relievers picked up where their starter left off, combining for three innings of no-hit ball with four strikeouts.
The best chance to win such games is when the opponent removes the ace. Chalk that up as another Washington mistake, failing to take advantage once deGrom exited. The Nationals recorded nine consecutive outs, aside from Eaton’s hit-by-pitch in the eighth, to end the game.
As to be expected, the manager and players were stoic in defeat. Can’t be too low or too high after the first game. They looked for the positives, of which there were several. Besides Scherzer’s strong outing, shortstop Trea Turner went 2-for-3 and stole three bases, while Robles stroked a stand-up double in his first opening day plate appearance.
“I think we had good at-bats,” Turner said. “I think we out-hit them today, but they had the one ball go over the fence and the one RBI single. For me I don’t know that we necessarily did a bad job. Both pitchers are very, very good, and Max was unbelievable today. He gave us a chance to win.”
Washington’s best chances to win are likely the games in which Scherzer starts. But when going against the other team’s best, the aces cancel each other out, leaving the decision to fractions of inches, like Ryan Zimmerman’s scorching line drive that would’ve scored Turner in the first inning if it didn’t hit Mets third baseman Jeff McNeil in the glove.
“We just have to make sure we drive in those runs when they’re out there and make sure we make the most of it,” Eaton said. “He’s a great pitcher and you have to tip your cap, but we’ll get him. It’s all part of baseball. It comes around.”
Nationals’ opponents feel the same way when Scherzer takes the mound.
When deGrom is the other starter, the feelings are mutual.
• Deron Snyder writes his award-winning column for The Washington Times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Follow him on Twitter @DeronSnyder.
• Deron Snyder can be reached at deronsnyder@gmail.com.
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