New York — A couple hours after getting no-hit by Max Scherzer, the New York Mets wound up on the wrong side again: They'll start the NL Division Series at Dodger Stadium, rather than Citi Field.

NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom is lined up to pitch the opener, possible in late-afternoon shadows.

The Mets lost their chance Saturday at home-field advantage in the upcoming best-of-five matchup by dropping their fifth game in a row.

Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey each threw well, but the Washington Nationals swept a day-night doubleheader — after Bryce Harper's homer won the opener 3-1, Scherzer threw his second no-hitter of the season in a 2-0 victory.

Waiting for the Mets on the West Coast will be LA aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.

"We wanted to start out here at home," Mets manager Terry Collins said before the Dodgers clinched the edge. "But again, we've played pretty good on the road lately."

"And I know it's in the shadows, I got all that stuff. But it's the same thing. We're running some pretty good guys out there, too," he said.

Scherzer struck out a team-record 17 to breeze past the NL East champions.

"I've seen this team rise up when they needed to time and again," Collins said. "And I know we'll do it again."

"We've got some guys that are a little tired. So one of those nights," he said.

Harvey (13-8) lost despite allowing just one unearned run and four hits in six innings with 11 strikeouts.

Syndergaard struck out 10, giving up just two hits in seven innings in what amounted to a playoff tune-up.

The 23-year-old went 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 24 starts in his first big league season. He fanned 166 and walked 31 in 150 innings.

"I feel like I ended the regular season on a high note today. I feel like I learned a lot this season, and now it's time to transfer what I learned during the season in the playoffs," Syndergaard said.

"When I came up here and made my debut, I was more of a thrower. Now I think I've advanced myself to more of a pitcher, and I'm really excited at the strides I've made this season," he said.

Working quickly on a brisk, blustery night at Citi Field, Scherzer (14-12) added to the no-hitter he threw against Pittsburgh on June 20, when he came within one strike of a perfect game before hitting a batter.

Only one Mets batter got on base, with Kevin Plawecki reaching on third baseman Yunel Escobar's throwing error to begin the sixth.

The 17 strikeouts tied Nolan Ryan for the most in a no-hitter, STATS said. Overall, the teams combined for 35 strikeouts, a big league record for a nine-inning game — the previous mark was 31 set by Texas and Seattle in 1997.

New York and Los Angeles are among four teams in major league history to make the playoffs after getting no-hit twice in one season, according to STATS. The others were the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays and 1917 Chicago White Sox, who won the World Series.

Scherzer pitched the seventh no-hitter in the majors this year, including one by San Francisco rookie Chris Heston at Citi Field on June 9.

The Mets rested many of the regulars in the second game. In the ninth, they sent up pinch-hitters Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda to begin the inning and both struck out swinging. Curtis Granderson's soft popup to Escobar finished it.

Granderson hit one of the very few hard balls off Scherzer, lining out to second baseman Dan Uggla in the fourth.

The Nationals won the opener when Harper connected off Addison Reed (3-3). It was Harper's 42nd homer. Rafael Martin (2-0) got one out as the Nationals ended a six-game skid against the Mets. Felipe Rivero worked the ninth for his second save.

Trainer's room

Nationals: Harper was heavily bandaged in ice after being hit by Syndergaard's fastball and didn't play the second game. "Like he threw it through me," Harper said. No word yet on his he'll be able to play Sunday.

Mets: LHP Steven Matz got an injection for his sore back and "hopefully that helps him a lot," Collins said. The 24-year-old rookie is 4-0. He missed two months because of a partial muscle tear on his left side earlier this season, and hasn't pitched in a game since Sept. 24. The Mets would like him to start against the Dodgers — he could get a tune-up next week in the instructional league.

Close

Harper has 99 RBIs. And going into the final game, he leads Miami's Dee Gordon by the slimmest of margins in the NL batting race — Harper is at .330754, Gordon is at .330606.

Up next

Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (4-7, 4.63) is 3-0 in five career games at Citi Field.

Mets: DeGrom (14-8, 2.60) starts vs. Washington for the sixth time this season. He's 2-2 with a 3.26 ERA in those outings.