Washington Nationals

Nationals' Scherzer credits catcher with enabling one-hit gem

Published Jun. 15, 2015 8:52 p.m. ET

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Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer had the outing of a lifetime on Sunday, a brilliant performance that he knows wouldn't have been possible without a solid backstop in Jose Lobaton.

"I was able to execute in the zone and out of the zone," Scherzer said. "And Loby was back there calling a great game and knowing when to sequence it and knowing when to double up, triple up. A lot of times I was just going with him and it was just working. That, I felt like, was a reason I was able to have so much success."

In a nine-inning masterpiece, Scherzer fanned 16 batters, allowing only one hit and taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.

As impressive as his own performance was, the 30-year-old righty was equally impressed with his catcher's defense behind the dish, particularly his framing skills.

"He did a great job of framing the low pitch, the low fastballs," Scherzer said. "I thought he was lightning-quick with those hands to make it look like a strike even they were borderline. He helped me get a few calls. He's just smart. A four-game series here, we talked throughout the three games thinking that he was going to catch this game, and [talked], 'What do we want to do with this guy? With that guy?' We just felt like we had a good game plan and it felt very comfortable even though I haven't faced these guys."

(h/t Washington Post)

Photo credit: Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

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