Max Scherzer enjoyed a milestone moment on Monday night, and it had nothing to do with his performance on the mound.
The Washington Nationals ace recorded his first career stolen base during a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. He was on first following a hit in the bottom of the seventh. Then, when he noticed Peter Moylan was barely paying attention to him, he got a great jump and stole second base.
After the game, Scherzer said that manager Dave Martinez had given him the green light to run if he saw a chance, so he took advantage. Martinez recalled telling Scherzer not to injure himself stealing, which led to the funny remark from Scherzer, who apparently said he had the best popup slide in the league.
Davey: don’t get hurt sliding
Max: I’ve got the best pop up slide in baseball pic.twitter.com/thKye4mUdt
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) April 10, 2018
Scherzer’s right. If they’re not going to pay attention to him, why not take advantage?
As if the stolen base weren’t impressive enough, Scherzer pitched a complete game two-hit shutout. He walked none and struck out 10, giving him a 93 game score — the highest for any pitcher this season.
