Following the NLDS, the Nationals advanced to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) to face the St. Louis Cardinals. Scherzer, in combination with Game 1 starter Aníbal Sánchez, repeated a feat they had achieved as teammates while playing in Detroit. Sánchez, the Game 1 starter, lost a bid for a no-hitter with two outs in the eighth. Scherzer started Game 2 and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing a leadoff single to Paul Goldschmidt. In Games 1 and 2 of the 2013 ALCS, they had also started with five hitless innings. No other pair of starting pitchers had ever taken no-hitters into the sixth inning against the same team in consecutive postseason games.