in a span of four following starts, scherzer lost three times as the nationals' offense was shut out each time. he lost another outing, 4−3, to the boston red sox on july 2 while collecting his 1,000th strikeout since joining washington. that vested him as the 11th pitcher in major league history to reach 1,000 strikeouts with two different clubs. he was selected as the nl starting pitcher in the all-star game, played at nationals park, for his third starting assignment. after allowing a home run to aaron judge, scherzer became the third all-star game starter within the previous 30 years to strike out at least four batters. he procured his 200th regular season strikeout in 2018 on july 27 versus the marlins, retiring justin bour with a swinging strikeout, to gridlock with walter johnson and roger clemens with seven consecutive seasons of 200 or more strikeouts. the three trailed seaver as the all-time leader with nine consecutive seasons.