MIAMI — Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer left his team’s game at Miami, walking off the mound shaking his head after throwing a wild warmup pitch before the bottom of the second inning.
The pitch sailed to the backstop, and Scherzer signaled to the dugout that he couldn’t continue. The Nationals broke with their standing policy of not releasing in-game injury information when they told reporters in Miami that Scherzer left with a “neck spasm” after he “slept on it funny.”
Scherzer pitched a 1-2-3 first inning Tuesday night, and in the top of the second he hit a three-run drive for his first career home run. There was no indication he hurt himself batting.
Scherzer came into the game with a 12-5 record, 2.23 ERA and a league-best 201 strikeouts for the NL East leaders. Because of a back injury to Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw, Scherzer is the clear lead candidate for the National League Cy Young Award, which he also won last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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