Nats’ Scherzer throws no-hitter, just misses perfect game

WASHINGTON — Max Scherzer turned in his second fabulous outing in a row, pitching a no-hitter as the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 41,104.

Scherzer lost a perfect game when pinch-hitter Jose Tabata was hit by a pitch on a 2-2 count with two outs in the ninth. He then retired second baseman Josh Harrison on a fly ball to left field for the last out.

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon ran into the railing in foul territory to make a catch for the first out of the ninth on right fielder Gregory Polanco.

Washington second baseman Danny Espinosa — originally in the lineup at shortstop — made a nice running play to retire Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez on a grounder into short right with the shift on to end the eighth.

Scherzer, who also contributed a hit at the plate, had 10 strikeouts in his third career complete game and third career shutout. He hit 97 mph on the stadium radar gun in the seventh on a pitch to left fielder Starling Marte, who later struck out.

Scherzer (8-5) was making his first start since he threw a one-hit shutout with a franchise-record 16 strikeouts on June 14 in Milwaukee. Scherzer took a perfect game into the seventh inning of that start before Carlos Gomez had a bloop single to lead off the seventh.

Washington right fielder Bryce Harper, who sat out Friday with a light left hamstring strain, smashed a 1-0 pitch over the center field fence in the fourth to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead against the Pirates.

It was a career-high 24th homer for Harper as Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen stopped to watch the ball sail over his head. The homer came against starter Francisco Liriano (4-6), who gave up five earned runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings before he was undone by a four-run sixth.

Rendon had an RBI double in the sixth to make it 2-0. His hit scored center fielder Denard Span, who reached on a wild pitch as he struck out and then stole second.

Harper then singled in Span to build the margin to 3-0. A two-run single by first baseman Tyler Moore made it 5-0 to send Liriano to the showers.

Nationals left fielder Michael A. Taylor doubled and scored on wild pitch in the seventh to make it 6-0.

Taylor also made a nice catch near the left field fence in the third to rob Pirates shortstop Jody Mercer of extra bases.

The Nationals (36-33) improved to 8-11 in June and the second-place Pirates (39-29) lost for the second day in a row after an eight-game winning streak.

Scherzer, who signed as a free agent in January with the Nationals, entered the game with a 1.93 ERA.

NOTES: Washington OF Bryce Harper was back in the lineup as the cleanup hitter and playing right field Saturday after he sat out Friday’s game with a mild left hamstring strain. He was injured in the sixth inning on Thursday when he threw a ball home on a wet grass after a single. “He texted me this morning,” manager Matt Williams said on the Nationals radio network before the game Saturday. “He feels good. He said he wants to be in the lineup; we are not going to argue with him. He said he is good to go.” … Harper entered the day tied for second in the league with 22 homers and led MLB in on-base average (.476), slugging (.720) and OPS at 1.197. … Washington INF Yunel Escobar was a late scratch from the lineup with a stomach bug. Ian Desmond, slated to have his second day off in a row, was put in the lineup at shortstop and Danny Espinosa, who had been slated to play short, was moved to second and Anthony Rendon moved from second to third. … Pittsburgh RHP Charlie Morton (5-0, 1.62 ERA) will start the series finale on Sunday against Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez (4-4, 4.82 ERA). … Washington CF Denard Span hit .400 in his previous six games with at least one hit in each outing. … Pittsburgh OF Andrew McCutchen entered the game with four doubles, two triples and five homers with 11 RBIs in his last 12 games at Nationals Park.