Wire Taps: Anthony Rendon, Max Scherzer get ASG nods; Max reflects on Detroit, strikes out 14...

Well, 2-1 wins in games that were billed as likely blowouts aren’t that heartening, but then again, this team doesn’t do all that much the easy way, which certainly bodes well for this series at home against the Marlins.

Here’s the news from Nats Park:

Snubbed no more! How Anthony Rendon stopped being baseball's Glenn Close (ESPN)
If Anthony Rendon had been a presidential candidate for the Democratic party in the 20th century, the conventions before 1968 would've been where he succeeded. He has no populist appeal, no way to win over the fans — but the intelligentsia of baseball get it, finally: he's among the best position players in baseball. First, though, he had to suffer through botched campaigns and injuries.

Anthony Rendon is an MLB all-star for the first time, and Max Scherzer will join him in Cleveland (The Athletic)
Seven seasons into his major league career, Anthony Rendon finally got the nod, and boy is he ever excited: “I hear it’s no rest, so that’s not a good thing,” Rendon said after he learned he was an All-Star. “They said your schedule is jam-packed and you’re going to events or whatever, or you’re doing interviews or whatever it might be. So it seems like it’s right up my alley.”

Anthony Rendon, Max Scherzer named All-Stars (MLB.com)
It's Scherzer's seventh trip to the ASG in seven years, and he's headed to Cleveland "ready to party." In the meantime, Rendon will likely look for any way out possible and may well seek some rest to address his "nicks and bruises."

Scherzer and Rendon excited to represent Nats as All-Stars (MLB.com)
Anthony ultimately admitted that he appreciated the honor, if only for the commemorative jersey he would get.

Max Scherzer strikes out 14, Nationals beat Tigers (MLB.com)
Scherzer finished June with a 1.00 ERA and 68 strikeouts, never going less than seven innings and never collecting any fewer than nine strikeouts.

Max Scherzer paused to reflect on his time in Detroit. But on Sunday, he’s all about business. (WaPo)
Max Scherzer wasn't oblivious to the situation: even though the team was almost entirely different and it had been five seasons, he knew he was coming back to the place where he figured out how to be an ace, where he came closer to a World Series than anywhere to this point. He knows things didn't end perfectly for him in Detroit, with a declined extension offer that the Tigers publicized, but he still remembers his time there fondly.

Max Scherzer mows down Tigers in return to Detroit, and Nationals claim series with 2-1 win (WaPo)
Scherzer's distance from the Tigers of years past has gotten lengthy enough that he had no qualms with striking out fourteen Tigers at Comerica Park, pitching a dominant eight innings.

What this year’s All-Star snubs tell us about the new voting system (The Athletic)
"Rendon remains arguably the most underrated player in the majors."

Carig: For ascendant Braves, ‘it’s just the beginning’ – The Athletic
“To be on the same playing field as some of your heroes is going to be pretty amazing, just walking into that clubhouse and sharing that with them,” said 21-year-old Mike Soroka, who looks forward to meeting the Nationals’ Max Scherzer. “I’m probably going to stay pretty quiet and learn what I can and try to apply it.”

Back in Detroit, Scherzer strikes out 14 in 2-1 Nats win (MASN)
“That’s what you put all the work in for,” Scherzer said. “Everything I train for to make sure that I’m at my best and throw the best pitches I can late in the game. Tonight or today, we needed it - 2-1 ballgame in the eighth. Those are the deciding pitches of if it’s a tie game or if we’re winning.”