WASHINGTON -- Nationals manager Dave Martinez announced that starter Max Scherzer was scratched from his Game 5 start against the Astros because of spasms in his neck and upper right trapezius.
"Yesterday, he had a little bit of spasms in his right trap and neck," Martinez said. "They treated it. He woke up today a lot worse."
According to Scherzer, the symptoms were bad enough that he couldn't do anything "menial" when he woke this morning.
"Moment I wake, I couldn't get out of bed," Scherzer said. "I basically just fell out of bed. Picked myself up with my left arm, and I was moving around, just couldn't even move my (right) arm. I just knew at that point I was in a really bad spot."
Righty Joe Ross will take Scherzer's place and will face Astros ace Gerrit Cole. The Nationals and Astros enter Sunday night's game tied at two apiece.
"He's really upset about this," Martinez said, adding that the normally animated Scherzer was "very quiet" before the game.
Scherzer said that he received a cortisone shot in the irritated region of his neck and back. Doctors said that it should take about 48 hours for the shot to take effect, meaning that it's still possible he could pitch in a possible Game 7 in Houston on Wednesday.
"That's what the doctors believe with this nerve irritation, with a cortisone shot in there, that the neck can take 48 hours (and) it really will help subside the pain that's being alleviated," Scherzer said. "I'm just hoping that doctors are right and that something can be possible for Game 7."
Scherzer's injury means that the much-anticipated pitching duel against Cole, an American League Cy Young favorite, will not happen. However, Martinez said that Scherzer will continue to undergo treatment and the club will keep him on the roster rather than petition for an injury replacement.
"We're going to keep him on the roster," Martinez said. "If this gets better in the next 24 to 48 hours, being that we have a day off tomorrow, hopefully he'll be available to pitch one of those two games."
Scherzer, 35, went 11-7 with 2.92 ERA during the season but was limited to 27 starts because of back problems. Scherzer said the new injury appears to be unrelated to that issue, which was more a problem with the lower region of the back.
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young winner, said that his condition shouldn't result in any long-term problems and that avoiding that outcome was one reason he wouldn't have pitched on Sunday. But it turned out that fighting through the injury wasn't an option.
"That was one of the dangers of pitching tonight, was that something serious could go wrong," Scherzer said. "But actually I can't even pick up my arm right now."
Ross, 26, went 4-4 with a 5.48 ERA this season over 27 appearances, including nine starts. He wasn't on Washington's roster during the early rounds of the postseason but was added for the World Series. He's made one appearance, throwing two scoreless innings in Game 3.
Scherzer said that once he realized he would not be able to pitch, he alerted Ross via a text message so he could begin preparations.
"(I will) just keep the belief that we can win," Scherzer said. "Whoever is at the plate and whoever is on the mound has the ability to do that job and continue. That's been our motto all season, that's it's just not one guy."
This will be Ross' second career postseason start. He allowed four runs over 2 2/3 innings against the Dodgers in the 2016 NLDS.
"He's starting the game," Martinez said. "We're going to let him go as much as he can go."
Astros manager AJ Hinch found out about Scherzer's injury at roughly the same time that Martinez announced the news to the media. But one of his players actually found out just a split second earlier.
"I found out from Alex Bregman, which is part of the story," Hinch said. "He was just closest to his phone whenever it started hitting the social media part. He came in and asked if it was true. I did a little investigating and turned out it was."
Still, Hinch says his club takes no delight from avoiding the challenge of facing one of the game's toughest pitchers.
"We're not going to high five," Hinch said. "We're not going to have that moment where we feel like we have some sort of advantage. We need to go find a way to beat Joe Ross now."
During the early rounds of the playoffs, Martinez helped navigate the Nationals to the World Series by deploying his key arms -- Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin -- as both starters and relievers. When asked if that might have contributed to his problems, Scherzer dismissed the possibility.
"Absolutely not," Scherzer said. "This just another thing that was a little thing that turned into a big thing that turned into a giant thing."
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October 27, 2019 at 02:20PM
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Nats ace Max Scherzer scratched from Game 5 start with neck spasms - ESPN
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