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Home , Corey Kluber, Cy Young, Cy Young Award, Hits allowed, Inning, Kerry Wood

ALL-STAR NATIONAL LEAGUE CANDIDATE

MAD MAX IN RAREFIED AIR As Nationals RHP Max Scherzer puts the finishing touches on one of the best seasons in , he has compiled a compelling case to become the sixth in Major League history to win the in both leagues...The THE COMPETITION resume for Scherzer, who won the award in the American Here is a look at how Max Scherzer compares to the other National League Cy League in 2013 with the , is below: Young candidates: NAME W L ERA INN BB SO SO/9 SO/BB WHIP AVG STATISTIC NUMBER NL RANK M. Scherzer 19 7 2.82 223.1 54 277 11.16 5.13 0.94 .193 277 1st J. Arrieta 18 8 3.10 197.1 76 190 8.67 2.50 1.08 .194 WHIP 0.94 1st M. Bumgarner 14 9 2.71 219.1 53 246 10.09 4.64 1.02 .209 Opponent On-Base Percentage .248 1st J. Cueto 17 5 2.79 212.2 44 187 7.91 4.25 1.08 .235 -to-Walk Ratio 5.13 1st J. Fernandez 16 8 2.86 182.1 55 253 12.49 4.60 1.12 .224 Pitched 223.1 1st K. Hendricks 16 8 1.99 185.0 43 166 8.08 3.86 0.97 .204 per nine innings 6.29 1st J. Lester 19 4 2.28 197.2 49 191 8.70 3.90 1.00 .208 Quality Starts 26 T1st AWARDS SEASON FanGraphs.com WAR 5.8 3rd NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STAR 3.88 3rd Scherzer was named an All-Star for the fourth consecutive season, representing Strikeouts per nine innings 11.16 3rd the Nationals on the National League team in this past July...Scherzer, a Left on Base Percentage 82.1% 3rd ’s selection to the NL squad, tossed a dominant of work, touching 99 Fielding Independent Pitching 3.19 4th mph with his as he faced KCR’s (groundout), NYY’s Carlos Opponent OPS .602 4th Beltran (fly ), BAL’s (strikeout)...Scherzer, who was 10-3 with a ERA 2.82 6th 3.03 ERA in the season’s firist half, won at least 10 games before the All-Star break for the fourth consecutive season...Via the Elias Sports Bureau, over the last TRUE VALUE 20 years, only two other reached digits in wins prior to the While Scherzer ranks tied for first in MLB in quality starts (starts of 6.0 IP or break in each of four consecutive seasons: Greg (1997-2001) and more with three ER or fewer) with 26, he is in a class by himself when it comes (2005-11). to the type of starts teams routinely expect from their front-of-the-line ace: 7.0 IP (or more), while allowing two earned runs or fewer...Scherzer has put together 18 such starts this season, three more than any other National League starter. HISTORIC PERFORMANCES Scherzer joined an exclusive club on May 11 vs. the Detroit Tigers as he became just the fourth pitcher in Major League history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game...He joined (May 8, 2001), (May 6, 1998) and (Sept. 18, 1996 & April 29, 1986)…Scherzer, who in 2015 became just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to throw two no-hitters in the same regular season, now joins Johnson as the only pitchers in MLB history to have a no-hitter and a 20-strikeout game on his resume. • Scherzer’s 20 K’s marked a Nationals record (2005-pres.), a franchise record (Nationals/Expos) and the most in D.C.-baseball history since struck out 21 batters on Sept. 12, 1962 at , but in a 16-inning performance...In Scherzer’s three historic performances with WSH (two no-hitters, 20-K game), he has combined for 47 strikeouts and no walks. • According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Scherzer’s 20 strikeouts against the Tigers, for whom he pitched from 2010-14, are the most any pitcher has recorded in a game against his former team in MLB history. AND A CHANCE FOR HISTORY EVERY TIME OUT According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Scherzer has carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning nine times in the last two seasons, spanning just 66 starts (13.6 percent of his starts in a Nationals uniform)...While he has completed the feat twice (June 20, 2015 vs. PIT and October 3, 2015 at NYM), no one has flirted with the no-no more in that span... Indians RHP slots in second with six such starts since the start of the 2015 season. EXCLUSIVE KLUB • With Tuesday night’s win serving as his Major League-best 13th double-digit strikeout game of the season, Scherzer remains the only active Major League pitcher with at least 10 games of 10 strikeouts or more in back-to-back seasons...Scherzer, who collected 11 such games in 2015, joins Randy Johnson (1997-2002) and (2001-02) as the most recent pitchers to accomplish that feat, according to the Elias Sports Bureau...Additionally, Elias notes that Scherzer’s 24 starts with at least 10 strikeouts since the start of the 2015 season are the most such starts over a two-season span since the 2001 and 2002 seasons, when Johnson had 37 starts of this type (22 in 2001, 15 in 2002) and Schilling had 27 (13 in 2001 and 14 in 2002). • Scherzer’s 49 double-digit strikeout games in his career are the 18th-most in Major League history (since 1913), according to Baseball Reference...Scherzer and left-hander are the only active pitchers currently among the top 20 in this category. • With 277 strikeouts this season, setting a new Nationals record (2005-present) and a new career high for the right-hander, Scherzer is now tied with Yu Dar- vish’s 2013 campaign for the second-most strikeouts in a season among all active pitchers (1st: Kershaw, 301 strikeouts, 2015)...Scherzer’s 2015 season also slots in third at 276 strikeouts...Having set new career highs for strikeouts in each of the last five seasons, Scherzer is currently the only active pitcher to post four seasons with 240 strikeouts or more. ELIAS SAYS.... • Scherzer shines on the mound, delivers at the plate (May 2): Scherzer pitched seven scoreless innings and contributed a pair of singles in the Nationals 6-1 win at St. Louis, making him only the second in Nats/Expos history to go 2-for-2 or better in a game in which he did not allow a . The first was Scott Sanderson with Montreal in his first start of the 1981 season. • Scherzer cools down MLB’s hottest team (June 14): Scherzer struck out nine of the first 10 batters he faced in the Nationals’ 4-1 win over the Cubs, joining (at in1962), Sam McDowell (at Detroit in 1966), (at Cincinnati in 1968), and (vs. San Diego in 2012) as the only pitchers in baseball’s expansion era (since 1961) to set down nine of the first 10 batters he faced by way of the K. • Scherzer K’s 11, drives in two (August 4): Scherzer registered 11 strikeouts over eight innings and drove in two runs with a in the sixth inning in the Nationals’ 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks, marking the second time that Scherzer has struck out 10 or more batters and drove in at least two runs in the same game in his career (also May 26, 2009 while he was with the Diamondbacks). The only other active player with multiple games of that type is SFG LHP , who had one game with at least 10 strikeouts and multiple RBIs in each of the last two seasons. Prior to Scherzer, the last franchise pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts and more than one RBI in a game was Javier Vazquez, who did it for the on August 2, 2003. • Another Gem for Scherzer (August 26): Scherzer allowed only two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 10 in eight innings as the Nationals beat the Orioles. It was the fourth time in his career that Scherzer threw a game in which he allowed no more than two hits with no walks and at least 10 strikeouts, the most such games since 1893 when the pitching mound was set at 60-feet, 6-inches from home plate. Four pitchers had three games like that in their career: , Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Corey Kluber.