Max Scherzer capped off a dominant outing on Saturday by tossing the second no-hitter in Nationals history. However, the right-hander came oh so close to pitching a perfect game.
With two outs in the ninth inning, a slider got away from Scherzer and went too far inside. The result was the ball hitting the elbow pad worn by Jose Tabata, who was awarded first base. And there went Scherzer’s perfect game.
After looking at replays, it doesn’t appear Tabata made much of an effort to get out of the way of the pitch. In fact, it looks like he leaned into it.