Pitching a flawless game in baseball is super hard. But ask Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer because he knows a thing or two about pitching two no-hitters in a season. He reached the feat for the second time tonight in a near-perfect fashion against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Even though the Nationals aren't going into the postseason, his numbers were nuts. Start at the fact that he tied the record for the most strikeouts (17) in a no-hitter since 1900. At one point, he struck out 9 batters in a row. Scherzer threw 109 pitches, 68 being fastballs. In the bottom of the ninth, he still had gas throwing 96 mph fastballs. His final pitch was to Curtis Granderson, who popped out to third base. That pitch was a 96.3 mph pyro flame— his third-fastest pitch of the night. The Mets swung at 60 pitches and missed 27 of them. Only one ball was hit hard all game.
Here's Scherzer talking about the second game-of-his-life, in this season alone.
Hats off to the man who produced one of the best pitched games we'll ever know in our lifetime.
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[via ESPN]
