Max Scherzer only pitched one inning in the Nationals’ 7-6 loss to the Miami Marlins Tuesday night due to neck spasms. Nonetheless, the All-Star right-hander still managed to hit a three-run home run in the second inning, his first major league bomb.
No one is more surprised by Max Scherzer’s first career home run than Max Scherzer pic.twitter.com/OSoYsAxYuH
— FanSided (@FanSided) August 1, 2017
After the game, Scherzer credited the surprising homer to the neck injury that forced him off the field minutes later.
Max Scherzer: “I’m all right.” https://t.co/lid5w3q3Qa #IBackTheNats
— Nationals on MASN (@masnNationals) August 2, 2017
“It actually helped on my baseball swing. I couldn’t pull my head out, I had to just stay locked in, and that actually gave me a better swing,” Scherzer told reporters. “So sure enough, that’s the reason why I hit a home run.”
The two-time Cy Young award winner went on to say he isn’t too concerned about the injury, explaining the spasms were a result of sleeping on his neck the wrong way.
“Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you have a crick in your neck,” Scherzer said. “That’s what it is. Like I said, I’ve had this in the past. You just have to take your pills, take your drugs, take your anti-inflammatories, get some rest and just get treatment. This will come and go.”
• Josh Luckenbaugh can be reached at jluckenbaugh@washingtontimes.com.
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