Max Scherzer loses perfect game in ninth, throws no-hitter against Pirates

The Pirates are the hottest team in baseball, but Max Scherzer cooled them down Saturday afternoon. The Nationals ace retired the first 26 Pittsburgh batters he faced before hitting Jose Tabata with two outs in the ninth. Scherzer was still able to finish off the 289th no-hitter in baseball history.

Here's the final out:

Scherzer had a two-strike count on Tabata when he hit him on the elbow with a breaking ball in the ninth inning. It didn't not appear Tabata made much of an effort to get out of the way of the pitch, yet he was still awarded first base by home-plate umpire Mike Muchlinski, ending the perfect game bid.

Scherzer said after the game the pitch was a slider that he didn't "finish," which caused it to not break much. Here's video of the questionable hit-by-pitch:

From the perspective of Nats catcher Wilson Ramos, he said Tabata did nothing untoward:

Scherzer, 30, threw only 106 pitches in the complete game, so his pitch count was in great shape. He's thrown as many as 119 pitches in a game this season. His career high is 127 pitches set back in 2011. Scherzer had plenty of gas left in the tank for the ninth inning.

The Pirates won 21 of their previous 27 games but that didn't bother Scherzer. He struck out 10 and allowed just 11 balls to be hit out of the infield. Danny Espinosa made a great play to rob Pedro Alvarez of a base hit to end the eighth inning, saving the perfect game. Alvarez nearly pulled a ball through the shift. Here's video of the play.

In his last start last Sunday, Scherzer struck out 16 Brewers and tossed a one-hitter. He's retired 54 of the last 57 batters he's faced. Scherzer came into Saturday with a 7-5 record and a 1.93 ERA on the season. He's been worth every penny of his seven-year, $210 million contract so far.

Box Score: Nationals 6, Pirates 0

Felix Hernandez tossed baseball's last perfect game back in August 2012. Back in July 1991, Dennis Martinez threw a perfect game for the Expos, who moved to Washington to become the Nationals in 2005.

The last Nationals pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Jordan Zimmermann on the final day of the 2014 season. The Pirates were last no-hit by Homer Bailey in September 2012. Chris Heston of the Giants threw the first no-hitter of 2015 two weeks ago.

The Nats won Saturday's game 6-0. Bryce Harper hit a solo home run and had an RBI single.