“That’s what we got. That’s our team, man. I love my team,” Scherzer said. “To see those guys grind out at-bats – especially Murph, you expect it now – it’s awesome. I think we really represented the Nationals very well here. We had some success. For all the fans out in Washington, I hope you got to see everybody’s best.”

Before the game, Scherzer expressed his desire to pitch in the game. He said he told the National League coaching staff he would be good for an inning, though he understood that not everyone can pitch in games like these. National League Manager Terry Collins chose him to pitch the sixth inning. He said he felt strong in the bullpen, then came out to the mound and threw a cutter, one the scoreboard at Petco Park read at 92 mph — a few miles per hour higher than usual. Then, he threw a fastball that the scoreboard said hit 101. MLB.com’s statcast read 98. Whatever it was, Scherzer was throwing as hard — if not harder — as he ever has in a regular season game for the Nationals.

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“I was so amped, so juiced going out there. I could tell as soon as I started my warm-up pitches. I was like ‘Oh my god. I am on full tilt right now,’ ” said Scherzer, still nearly bouncing in excitement after the game. “…I saw the 101, I was like ‘holy cow.’ First time I’ve ever hit 100.”

“He was very excited,” Ramos said. “His fastball was at 98, 99 miles per hour. I just told him save it. Save it for the second half.”

Ramos entered the game in the fourth inning, his first all-star appearance. Ramos was the last National League all-star introduced before the game and when he was, he put his hands to his head in his buffalo motion. Most at Petco Park had little idea what it meant, though a few cheers of understanding could be heard over the rest of the applause. Ramos struck out with two men on in his only plate appearance. It didn’t seem to bother him much.

“This day, I will never forget,” Ramos said. “I am very happy to get one at-bat. I strike out, but I’m still happy to participate in this game. That’s my dream, and now it’s true.”

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Murphy, meanwhile, entered the game to play second a half inning later. He reached on an error by Jose Altuve, then singled twice — once through the right side, once up the middle. Before the game, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the award given to the National League batting champion will be named after Padres legend Tony Gwynn. If the season ended now, Murphy would get that trophy, and continued his hot hitting against two of the toughest relievers in the American League, Dellin Betances and Zach Britton.

“Can you not, not believe it, the way he’s been swinging this year, how confident he is up there?,” Harper said. “I mean, we were all joking around inside the dugout — he’s hitting that four and a half ball, getting a ball in his window.”

“I was just trying to get a pitch in my zone, get my A swing off,” Murphy said.

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