NEW YORK -- Max Scherzer struck out at least 10 batters for the fifth straight start and pitched eight strong innings as the Washington Nationals cruised to a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets.Scherzer allowed one run and four hits. After striking out one batter in the first three innings, Scherzer recorded nine of his final 15 outs on strikeouts.Matt Wieters and Michael Taylor homered in the third off Steven Matz. Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homer while Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman produced RBI singles.Jose Reyes and Jay Bruce homered for the Mets. Matz allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings.Dodgers 3, Reds 1CINCINNATI -- Alex Wood allowed a run in eight stellar innings to remain unbeaten and Los Angeles defeated Cincinnati. Wood allowed four hits, struck out and contributed an RBI single. He is the first Los Angeles pitcher to begin a season without a loss in 10 or more starts since Orel Hershiser began 1985 by staying unbeaten in 11 starts.Cincinnati's Tim Adelman allowed... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer will look to author his fifth straight double-digit strikeout game Friday night when he takes the mound for the Nationals in the second contest of a four-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Scherzer took the loss Sunday, when he allowed three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out 10 over 7 1/3 innings as the Nationals fell to the Texas Rangers 5-1. The loss snapped a three-start winning streak for Scherzer, who is 3-1 with a 1.17 ERA over his last four starts -- a stretch in which he has struck out 48 and walked five. Scherzer is 6-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 13 career games (12 starts) against the Mets. He struck out 17 in no-hitting the Mets at Citi Field on Oct. 3, 2015.

RHP Max Scherzer, who had fanned at least 11 batters in his previous three starts, had 10 strikeouts on Sunday but was the hard-luck loser as he gave up three runs, two earned. He is 7-4 this year and has a 2.36 ERA.

WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals right-handed starter Max Scherzer got the 2,000th strikeout of his career when he fanned Nomar Mazara of the Texas Rangers to lead off the fourth inning on Sunday at Nationals Park.Scherzer is the third-fastest to reach that mark in terms of innings, only behind Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson.The right-hander from St. Louis entered the game with a record of 7-3 and a 2.35 ERA this season. Scherzer had struck out at least 11 batters in each of his last three starts, which were all wins. He fanned 14 batters on Tuesday in win on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers.Scherzer entered Sunday with a career mark of 132-72 with a 3.34 ERA with 1995 strikeouts in 1,780 2/3 innings. He has two career no-hitters and set a personal best when he fanned 20 Detroit Tigers at Nationals Park in 2016.One of his no-hitters, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, also came at Nationals Park.

RHP Max Scherzer will start on Sunday against the Texas Rangers at home. Scherzer is 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in his career against the Rangers, who will start rookie right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx on Sunday. A University of Missouri product, Scherzer has 1,995 strikeouts in his career, which began in 2008 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Scherzer has 114 strikeouts and just 20 walks this season in 84 1/3 innings over 12 starts. The St. Louis native has not faced Texas since 2013 and he is 2-1 with a 2.90 ERA at home when facing the Rangers.

RHP Max Scherzer said the key to his standout performance against the Dodgers was the effectiveness of his off-speed pitches. They were outstanding and propelled the Nationals to their seventh win in their last eight games. Scherzer struck out a season-high 14, allowing three hits and two walks in seven innings. He threw 105 pitches, 73 for strikes. Scherzer (7-3), the 2016 National League Cy Young winner, gave up an unearned run in the first inning and allowed three hits with two walks in seven innings. Strikeouts accounted for nine of the initial 10 outs he recorded, and he retired the final 10 batters he faced. Yasmani Grandal and Cody Bellinger each whiffed three times against Scherzer. "Tonight, I had a real good feel for my slider," said Scherzer, who registered his fifth career game with 14 or more strikeouts with no earned runs, the fifth most all-time behind Randy Johnson (19), Nolan Ryan (16), Pedro Martinez (8) and Roger Clemens (7). "I was able to throw it exactly where I wanted to, in the zone, out of the zone, flatten it out against the lefties. It gave (catcher Matt) Wieters back there a lot of options of calling a call. He was calling a great game. We were working with a fastball, change-up off that. And when he gets hot with his fingers, man it's great to be back there pitching." It marked the 55th time Scherzer has fanned at least 10 batters in a game, the most among active pitchers. He has six such outings this season.

RHP Max Scherzer needed just 100 pitches to record his seventh career complete game in a 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. The 100 pitches were the fewest he's thrown in a nine-inning complete game in his career. Scherzer struck out 11, his fifth double-figure strikeout effort of the season and the 54th of his career.

RHP Max Scherzer and San Francisco Giants RHP Matt Cain will meet in a rematch of Game 4 of the 2012 World Series when they square off Wednesday. Scherzer allowed three runs for the Detroit Tigers in a 4-3 loss that night, and has just a 2-4 record and 5.52 ERA in six career regular-season starts against the Giants. He has allowed three or fewer runs in nine of his 10 starts this season, including all five in the month of May.

BOSTON -- Eduardo Rodriguez turned in his seventh straight quality start and the Boston Red Sox notched their fifth straight win with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.Rodriguez (4-1) allowed five hits and walked three but battled through six innings and remained unbeaten since his first start of the season. He struck out four and has the third-most strikeouts (257) of any Boston pitcher in the modern era within his first 50 starts.Three relievers worked an inning apiece, with Craig Kimbrel adding to his early season magic with a perfect ninth for his 13th save of the season and his 27th straight at Fenway Park.First baseman Mitch Moreland took a hit away from Danny Valencia that would have been the first hit by a right-handed batter off Kimbrel this season. He finished the game by getting Taylor Motter to bounce out -- making right-handed hitters 0-for-39 against him this season.Royals 6, Indians 4CLEVELAND -- Jorge Bonifacio's two-run double in the eighth inning... [More]

BOSTON -- Eduardo Rodriguez turned in his seventh straight quality start and the Boston Red Sox notched their fifth straight win with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.Rodriguez (4-1) allowed five hits and walked three but battled through six innings and remained unbeaten since his first start of the season. He struck out four and has the third-most strikeouts (257) of any Boston pitcher in the modern era within his first 50 starts.Three relievers worked an inning apiece, with Craig Kimbrel adding to his early season magic with a perfect ninth for his 13th save of the season and his 27th straight at Fenway Park.First baseman Mitch Moreland took a hit away from Danny Valencia that would have been the first hit by a right-handed batter off Kimbrel this season. He finished the game by getting Taylor Motter to bounce out -- making right-handed hitters 0-for-39 against him this season.Royals 6, Indians 4CLEVELAND -- Jorge Bonifacio's two-run double in the eighth inning... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer starts Friday against the San Diego Padres. He is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in three starts against the Padres while with Washington.

RHP Max Scherzer (4-3, 3.02 ERA) had won five straight starts against the Braves before losing Saturday in Atlanta. He didn't come back after a long rain delay, having needed 106 pitches to make it through five innings. Scherzer gave up two homers, both on two-strike pitches, to account for all three runs he allowed. He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out six.

RHP Max Scherzer (4-2, 2.80 ERA) tries to match his first start against the Braves this season as he faces them for a second time in Atlanta on Saturday. He allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings on April 18 to run his record to 5-0 with a 3.12 ERA in his six most recent starts against the Braves. Scherzer is second in the National League 70 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings and has held opponents to a .198 batting average.

RHP Max Scherzer and his fans got a major scare in the top of the fourth Sunday night when a ball off the bat of Michael Saunders hit him near the left knee. The ball rolled into short right field for a hit while Scherzer hopped around in pain and eventually fell to the ground. The veteran right-hander and 2016 Cy Young Award winner was looked at by manager Dusty Baker and head athletic trainer Paul Lessard as he lay on the ground behind the mound. Scherzer got up and began some practice throws and stayed in the game. With runners on first and second and no outs, the next hitter, Andres Blanco, flew out to right. But Brock Stassi singled to drive in Aaron Altherr to tie the game at 1 and two batters later Andrew Knapp had an RBI single to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. But Scherzer bounced back and struck out the side in order in the fifth. He gave up three runs in six innings and did not figure in the decision.

RHP Max Scherzer will start the second game Sunday as the Nationals face the Phillies in a day-night doubleheader. Scherzer is 8-1 in his career against Philadelphia with an impressive 2.19 ERA in 12 starts.

RHP Max Scherzer has usually fared well versus the Orioles, with a 5-2 record coming into this game. Scherzer did not allow a hit in this contest until the sixth, gave up just two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, but it was not enough as Baltimore rallied later for a 5-4 victory in 12 innings. "He was great," manager Dusty Baker said. "We're trying to get him through that eighth inning. And then try to piecemeal the ninth."

RHP Max Scherzer gave up just two hits and one run in seven innings Thursday. Jake Lamb broke up the shutout bid with a homer in the seventh. Scherzer is 3-2 and has given up five homers in six starts this year. "Max was outstanding. That was probably the best slider he's had this season," manager Dusty Baker said.

RHP Max Scherzer had the worst outing of the season Friday. In his fifth start, he gave up five earned runs and nine hits in six innings against the New York Mets at home. He had not allowed more than five hits in any of his previous starts. "I'm sure Max didn't locate as well as he would have liked to," said manager Dusty Baker.

RHP Max Scherzer will look to continue his strong start to the season -- as well as his mastery of the New York Mets -- on Sunday night when he takes the mound for the Nationals in the finale of a three-game series against the Mets at Citi Field. Scherzer earned the win in his most recent start Tuesday, when he allowed two hits and three walks while striking out seven over seven shutout innings as the Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1. He has recorded a 1.37 ERA in his first three starts, a stretch in which Scherzer struck out 24 batters over 19 2/3 innings. Scherzer is 5-3 with a 1.83 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) against the Mets. The ERA is the lowest he produced against any team he's faced at least 10 times. Scherzer struck out 17 batters in a no-hitter against the Mets at Citi Field on Oct. 3, 2015.

RHP Max Scherzer struck out seven and walked three in recording his third consecutive quality start in beating Atlanta on Tuesday. He allowed only two runners to reach scoring position and improved to 6-3 in his career against the Braves. He threw 116 pitches, 76 for strikes.