WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the back of Tyler Mahle's mind Tuesday was the last time he pitched at Nationals Park.
That was three years ago, a lifetime in a big leaguer's career, but it was a poor start that prompted a demotion to the minor leagues. He never forgot that feeling. He was just a rookie pitcher with promise back then.
"You've got to be better than that this time," Mahle said to himself before the Reds' 2-1 victory against the Washington Nationals.
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Oh, he was better. He combined with Tejay Antone to outduel three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. It was the first time Scherzer lost a home start this season.
Mahle and Antone combined for eight scoreless innings and they didn't even have a runner touch second base against them. Mahle permitted three hits and one walk against the 20 batters he faced. Antone didn't allow a ball out of the infield in 2 2/3 innings.
“I got outpitched," Scherzer said. "That’s just the way it went. That's where, even though I had a lot of good stuff tonight, I did a lot of things right, Mahle came in and threw better than me. You’ve got to tip your hat to him."
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Mahle didn't have overpowering stuff against the Nationals. He totaled two strikeouts and four swings and misses. But he was dominant in other ways.
He didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning. He worked ahead in counts, throwing a first-pitch strike to 10-consecutive batters at one point.
"Strikeouts are really fun and I definitely sometimes try to miss bats," Mahle said. "But if they’re swinging and making soft contact and keeping it in the infield, then our guys are back there making plays. I’ll take that every game."
Mahle was pulled after 5 1/3 innings, throwing 94 pitches, but the decision is easier when a rested Antone is in the bullpen.
"You don’t want to come out of the game at all," Mahle said, "but when you’re coming out and you look down and it’s Tejay running in, I’m sure every starter in the game would be pretty comfortable."
The Reds don't take Antone for granted, but sometimes he makes it look so easy. He entered with a runner on base and one out in the sixth inning and induced an inning-ending double play on his first pitch.
Starlin Castro, a 12-year veteran, slammed his bat when he hit a pop-up to second base in the seventh inning. Trea Turner, one of the hottest hitters in the league this month, swung at a slider that dove into the other batter's box to end the eighth.
"To get a swing on a pitch that I didn’t quite execute how I wanted, that’s why I was so pumped up," Antone said. "It was huge. I was trying to do that but not that far out of the zone. I guess my hand speed sold it and he swung through it."
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The Reds, who had lost six of their last seven games, took down Scherzer with a pair of solo home runs from Kyle Farmer and Eugenio Suárez.
One is a guy who has been relegated to the bench for most of his career because he’s struggled to hit right-handed pitching, and the other was batting leadoff with a .148 batting average.
"I think as a baseball player, as a competitor, you want to go up against those guys," Reds manager David Bell said. "It’s because (Scherzer's) great. You want to compete. Usually, it comes down to one big hit, one big play. It’s fun playing games like that."
Scherzer is known for his intensity. Georgetown conducted its graduation ceremony at the ballpark during Monday's off-day, but Scherzer was there in the outfield playing catch because he didn't want to interrupt his routine between starts.
He struck out four of his first six batters before Farmer lined a first-pitch fastball over the left-field fence. It was Farmer’s 12th homer of his career.
In the sixth inning, Suárez deposited a changeup over the right-field wall for an opposite-field homer. Suárez, who moved into the leadoff spot for the first time in his career, had one hit in his previous 23 at-bats before his home run.
Solo homers have been Scherzer's kryptonite. He's yielded seven runs in 35 innings at Nationals Park this season and they've all scored in the same way.
"You can tell he doesn't make a lot of mistakes," Suárez said. "But he did in that at-bat."
Scherzer allowed five hits and one walk in seven innings, striking out nine. He overpowered hitters with his fastball, accumulating seven strikeouts through the first four innings. He totaled 21 swings and misses.
Mahle and Antone were better. Josh Bell hit a solo homer off Amir Garrett in the ninth inning to spoil the shutout, but Mahle now has something new to remember about pitching at Nationals Park.
It's no longer the place where he was demoted. It's the place where he outdueled Scherzer.
"It was a good win against probably their best guy," Mahle said. "It was huge."
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