Max Scherzer hit a pinch hit single and scored the winning run from first yesterday

Max Scherzer won NL Pitcher of the Month award for the second consecutive month yesterday, and with good reason: the ace went 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA and a .176 opponent’s batting average against in six starts.

But at this point, Scherzer and the Nats need to be thinking past the limiting title of Pitcher of the Month, and start focusing on Player of the Month — likewise, they need to shift their campaign from Cy Young to MVP. Don’t believe it?

Scherzer is currently sitting at 3.4 fWAR on the year, fourth best in the league. The next NL contender? Freddie Freeman, at 2.6 fWAR, eight spots below.

Need more proof? Take Scherzer’s average on the year: .286, with four RBIs and even a double over just 28 at-bats.

Need even more proof?

How about Davey Martinez calling on Scherzer when he was in desperate need of a pinch hitter in the fourteenth inning against the Braves yesterday, who, according to Chelsea Janes of the Post, then went and did his hitting routine. Yup, he has a hitting routine.

And what did he do in the at-bat? Sit down? Nope, he laced a single and then stayed on base for Wilmer Difo to triple him home. From first. That’s right: Max Scherzer, he of the three Cy Young Awards, sparked the Nats’ best rally of the game with a pinch-hit single.