An error fails Scherzer, the Nationals as the slip continues in 4-3 defeat against Red Sox

The pitch that sentenced Max Scherzer this time – for a month now, he looked a mistake is too much for the Washington attack to be defeated – was a quick shot thrown at a man who n? did not have the habit of hitting them. He thought his good friend, Boston Red Sox starter Rick Porcello had been eliminated.

He did not, and Porcello opened the scoring with two hits for a second-run double that sentenced the home team to a 4-3 loss Monday night at the Nationals. Park. The national championships are just a .500 game, at 42-41. While waiting for the Atlanta Braves' top spot at the New York Yankees on Monday night, they have been 6 1/2 games in the National League East.

Annual heat and moisture coverage is installed over Washington. week, and with it, the realization that "it's still early" no longer applies. The Nationals set individual and collective goals, with a rookie manager hoping to prove themselves, with stars hoping to win huge contracts, with an alignment that seemed ready to run away again with the division.

But in recent days Judging by the change in tone of the post-game interviews and the words chosen by this manager and his players, several people involved in this team have looked up and realized that the ambitions had to succumb to the survival instinct. has not arrived so far, they have 79 games with which to redefine this season. They will have to fight. They are going to have to do more than they did Monday night.

The Nationals have chosen to give their beginners an extra day of rest around a day off last week. They did not give priority to the Philadelphia Phillies last weekend's series, which caused Scherzer to rest regularly in July when they could grant him an extra day of rest for running.

Scherzer for the mighty Red Sox and a match against Porcello, his friend and former teammate in Detroit. After voluntarily marching on Jackie Bradley Jr., he found himself facing Porcello with two outs and goals loaded in the second. Porcello is a career American Leaguer who had a .156 batting average coming in on Monday, but Scherzer threw him a first-step slider. Porcello fumbled, and hurt, then did the same thing to a cutter a moment later.

Then, in a 0-2 count against a man who had seemed completely lost, Scherzer threw a fast-paced 96 mph on the inside half of the plate. Porcello scored a brace for center-left, his first career goal, giving the team and team a 3-0 lead.

Scherzer mumbled something as he left the mound. When everyone is in trouble, an error like that of the constant presence of the team stings a lot more.

[ Monday Box Score: Red Sox 4, Nationals 3]

Daniel Murphy tried to provide When Wilmer Difo followed his single with only one of his goals. Murphy, still in the running as a man who underwent a major knee surgery not so long ago, tried to move from first to third place. Mookie Betts lined the ball down right. Murphy never had a chance, and a potential rally was bypassed with a clumsy slip around the third base bag.

Before Monday's game, manager Dave Martinez said he was trying to give his attack a key message: He sees his players squeezing into big situations, trying to be something else that 39; themselves.

For those who see losing teams and want a manager to scream and return tables, see struggles and think: "They need a kick the goal," the idea of ​​# 39 A rookie manager telling his team "to try less" seems absurd. But in times like this, when a veteran player tries to take the extra base, or make a big move, or do more than what he could for a team that's 10 games on .500 and has trust, the advice seems premonitory.

Murphy later Homer, his first of the season. He has shown signs of a surge in recent days. If he had to hire one, this training could come up with him. Anthony Rendon tried to do it, and he chained Monday again, his 12th. Bryce Harper hit his 21st to eighth. None of them had anybody at the base at that time. Rendon left two men in the fifth and seventh. Whatever they do, so hard that they are, it is not enough for the moment.

Scherzer fights to hold the Red Sox in place after Porcello's move. They pushed him, not after throwing him, while he was trying to stop giving distance to one of the most powerful groups of majors. In four sets, he needed 83 shots to do it. At the end of five, he needed 94. A day after the Nationals had emptied their field in a 13-round defeat, Scherzer needed to sink into the Monday night game.

He dealt as many moves as possible and never allowed another race. His seventh strikeout was his 1,000th as a National and made him the 11th pitcher in baseball history to beat 1,000 batters with two teams. He will not find much consolation to belong to this club.

His ninth in the baton, on his 108th rung, pulled out Porcello to finish sixth. The Nationals would get three points on these solo circuits, but Brandon Kintzler allowed one of his team to surrender to Betts in the seventh, which meant those three points were not enough. They needed someone to do more. They need it for a month now.