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Faith is a large part of our lives lately -- not necessarily in the traditional sense (although we did make it to church for Christmas Eve, lovely service) but certainly as we navigate my medical adventures along with the harrowing dramas of teenagers growing up in the city and a Washington bureau chief in a particularly colorful election year. You might say that our household dials up faith by the truckload -- like, say, a truckload of fertilizer for the garden out back.

Harper Bobblehead Night.

That leaves us with enough residual for moments that are somewhat less than life-and-death, such as a cold and rainy evening when Meg and I were considering whether to fight rush-hour traffic and Bryce Harper Bobblehead Night crowds to head to Nats park and catch a few innings of baseball between rain delays. I was all ready to cancel -- the game was on TV, the couch was warm and dry. But Meg, faith bolstered by a favorable weather report, said she was good to go.

The rain stopped en route to the stadium. We survived the traffic, collected our bobbleheads, dried off our seats and watched Nats ace Max Scherzer begin to decimate his former teammates on the Tigers, even as Tigers ace Jordan Zimmermann began to decimate his former teammates on the Nats. Zimmermann got a welcome-back standing ovation when he stepped up to bat in the third, and I was surprised to see him tip his helmet to the crowd, acknowledging the attention in a way a reticent Wisconsin farm boy does not naturally do.

But it was all Scherzer (who
looks nothing like this.)

It was a much-deserved moment for Zimmermann. But as happened often during his time as a National, his sterling performance was overshadowed. Scherzer was manic. He stalked the mound, stared down the Tigers, blew fastballs past Miguel Cabrera and other fine hitters. With one out in the top of the fourth, Meg noted that Scherzer had nine strikeouts.

My faith in my daughter faltered, or at least my faith in her attention to the game.

"No, that's impossible," I said. "He's doing great, maybe five or six, but not nine." But then I thought back, first inning, second inning, third inning -- I got out my phone to check. Nine strikeouts through 10 outs. There was also that home run he gave up in the third, but even so, amazing. Too bad that no human could keep up that pace.

Scherzer was no human last night. Two strikeouts each in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and three in the eighth, setting a new Nats record. Nats ahead 3-1. Meg noticed that Jonathan Papelbon was warming up in the bullpen in advance of the ninth, but we had faith that Scherzer would come out to finish it. Surely Papelbon was just getting ready in case Scherzer got in a jam? Surely?

Scherzer came out in the ninth, 35,000 fans howled their approval, and then J.D. Martinez hit Scherzer's first pitch over the center-field wall. Nats lead down to 1. Scherzer's pitch count was up, and Papelbon was ready to go.

Did we lose faith? Well, it is fair to say we were tense. But Dusty Baker did not lose faith. He stuck with Scherzer, even after Scherzer gave up a single, through two more strikeouts and a ground-out to finish the game. 20 Ks, tying a major league record. Faith wins.