of scherzer's three most brilliant performances that season, one tweet adduced that he "was a bloop single, an over-sized elbow pad, and a throwing error away from throwing three perfect games." that description was nearly precise; however, in the june 14 contest versus milwaukee, scherzer also issued a bases on ball to scooter gennett after allowing gómez' single—leaving scherzer four batters short of three perfect games. thus, he became the first to assemble three games scores of 97 or higher in one season since at least 1914. ryan and walter johnson (1918) were the only two other pitchers to carry out three game scores of 95 or more in one season. in a season that also featured mammoth offensive accomplishments from nl most valuable player (mvp) bryce harper, the nationals were eliminated from the playoff contention with a week remaining.