Max Scherzer wore red shorts and a blue 2019 Grapefruit League T-shirt by his locker after his outing on Wednesday.
The choice of a T-shirt, from spring training, was appropriate as the Nationals ace tries to round back into shape after he made the start in an 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Nationals Park.
Washington manager Dave Martinez agreed the right-hander is closing in on going full throttle after he made 89 pitches in 4 1/3 innings. In his first start coming off the injured list, on Thursday in Pittsburgh, he tossed 74 pitches.
“The pitch count was up. That tells me I am not able to put away guys like I want and am capable of,” said Scherzer, who dealt with back and mild rhomboid strain earlier this summer. “There is no room for error. I can not get hurt. I understand that.”
Scherzer has repeated over the past few weeks that the most part telling of his recovery process comes the day after he pitches. So that means how he feels when he wakes up Thursday will be a better indicator than how he felt after he left the mound Wednesday night.
“That is the number one thing,” Scherzer said.
The Washington ace reached the 200-strikeout mark for the eighth year in a row — one short of the all-time record of nine seasons set by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.
Scherzer gave up two runs on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts while his ERA rose just a bit to 2.46.
Martinez didn’t get much of a fight when he took the ball from Scherzer with one out in the fifth. The Nationals called on right-handed reliever Wander Suero, who got a double-play grounder to end the inning.
“We need Max to be Max,” Martinez said. “He understands that. We have to stick to the plan.”
That plan was to keep Scherzer to around 90 pitches. He threw 71 in his return in Pittsburgh last week while throwing at least 100 pitches in 17 of his first 19 starts.
The St. Louis native has now made 22 starts this year and his record remains at 9-5 as Suero got the win. The Nationals are now 11-11 in the starts Scherzer has made this year.
Scherzer said he hopes to ramp up the intensity in his next start.
“It will make me a better pitcher later,” he said. “Tonight was a good outing … to get the reps in. I need to get my back right.”
Washington stayed 5 1/2 back of first-place Atlanta, which won 9-4 at Toronto.
The Nationals begin a series at home Friday with the last-place Marlins.
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