Pittsburgh Pirates

Nationals' Scherzer gets final tuneup against Pirates (Sep 30, 2017)

Published Sep. 30, 2017 12:30 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON -- The Pittsburgh Pirates make only one trip a year to Nationals Park, but Washington pitchers have turned in some memorable outings in those limited engagements.

Stephen Strasburg, in his major league debut in 2010, fanned 14 batters -- including the last seven -- in just seven innings against the Pirates.

In more recent memory Max Scherzer, who joined the Nationals prior to the 2015 season, nearly threw a perfect game in June of that year in a weekend assignment against Pittsburgh and finished with the first no-hitter of his career.

Scherzer (16-6, 2.55 ERA) will make a playoff tuneup start on Saturday night as he faces the Pirates in the next-to-last day of regular-season play. He will be opposed by right-hander Jameson Taillon (8-7, 4.62), who battled testicular cancer earlier this season. The Florida native is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in one career start against Washington, which took place last season.

"This man had every opportunity to go home," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Friday.

Pittsburgh pitcher Steven Brault said Friday it has been neat to watch Taillon bounce back. Brault, who broke into the majors last year and has pitched in 10 games this season, will start Sunday for the fourth time in 2017.

"It is neat to see. He always had a positive attitude," Brault said of his former minor league teammate.

Scherzer is 4-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 career games against the Pirates, with nine starts. He has not faced Pittsburgh this season.

In his last start Scherzer went six innings and allowed one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk in a 3-2 win at New York on Sunday against the Mets.

He lowered his ERA to 2.55 in his previous outing and has 263 strikeouts this year.

"I could have gone out for the seventh," Scherzer told reporters after his outing on Sunday in New York. "Wasn't gonna push pitch count terribly high today, but (pitching coach Mike Maddux) just made that decision for me and just wanted to go to the bullpen and take me out early today. I'm not fighting it. It's smart, considering I only have one more start before the postseason. I got my work in today, executed pitches and we came away with a win."

The Nationals are working on their postseason roster, and one player who is making noise is outfielder Victor Robles, who made his major league debut Sept. 7. He showed his speed with an infield single Thursday, then appeared to steal second before he was called out on a video challenge.

"You can just see he has tools," Scherzer said. "He can impact a game in so many ways. Nats fans, look out. We have something coming."

The Nationals won 6-1 on Friday as Stephen Strasburg did not allow a run while pitching into the eighth, and Ryan Zimmerman had two doubles and two homers.

Washington can set a franchise record for wins in a season with victories on Saturday and Sunday. The Nationals have 97 wins this year. They have won the division two years in a row and four times since 2012.