Star pitcher Max Scherzer has been named to his seventh consecutive Major League Baseball All-Star Game and third baseman Anthony Rendon will make his first appearance in the Midsummer Classic, the Washington Nationals announced Sunday.
The announcement was made shortly after Scherzer improved his record to 8-5 and lowered his ERA to 2.43, which ranks third in the majors. He leads the National League in strikeouts (170), strikeouts per nine innings (12.51) and innings pitched (122.1).
Scherzer — who has played in the All-Game in each of his four previous seasons in Washington — is soon expecting his second child and it’s unclear if that will keep him from playing in the July 9 game in Cleveland.
Rendon, considered by many as one of the most underrated players in the majors, leads all National League third basemen in on-base percentage (. 398), slugging percentage (. 619) and OPS (1.017). Among all National League players, he ranks in the Top 10 in those categories along with runs scored (61, tied for seventh), batting average (. 310, 10th), doubles (20, tied for 10th) and RBI (57, tied for 10th).
Both were key contributors in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Scherzer won his sixth straight start by notching his fourth straight double-digit strikeout performance and Rendon’s seventh inning home run proved to be the winning score.
