If you’ll allow us to channel Tim Kurkjian for a moment, moments like these are why baseball is such a great game. You just never know what you’re going to see on a particular night.
Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer came into Tuesday’s game versus the Miami Marlins batting .186 for the season with no career home runs. But in the second inning, facing Chris O’Grady with two runners on base, Scherzer turned on a 81 mph cutter that ran a bit inside and cranked it out for his first major league homer.
Naturally, Scherzer was pumped about hitting his first home run, even if his Nationals teammates gave him the silent treatment when he got to the dugout.
Max Scherzer shows bunt…then hits 3 run bomb. First major league home run. pic.twitter.com/ffpWGq8lIw
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) August 1, 2017
Scherzer hits first career homer, gets silent treatment pic.twitter.com/sj5tBfJSSp
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) August 1, 2017
Scherzer couldn’t even avoid getting zinged on Twitter by a teammate.
We'll never hear the end of it…
— Adam Eaton (@AdamSpankyEaton) August 1, 2017
Unfortunately for Scherzer — and the Nats — the celebration was short-lived. After coming out to pitch the bottom of the second inning, the right-hander threw one warmup pitch, which be bounced wide, pointed to his neck and told manager Dusty Baker “I can’t go.” He immediately left the game, replaced by Matt Grace.
This is bizarre. Max Scherzer is coming out of this game. Came out to throw warmup pitches, then walked off and said "I can't go."
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) August 1, 2017
Reportedly, Scherzer was feeling some discomfort in his neck before the game and had treatment on it. So he didn’t hurt himself by swinging too hard, celebrating too enthusiastically in the dugout, or whatever theories fans may have been coming up with when Scherzer left the game. According to the Nationals, Scherzer was taken out of the game as a precaution.
Per #Nats spokesperson: Scherzer had a neck spasm, said he "slept on it funny." Came out of the game as a precaution.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) August 2, 2017
A likely regimen of massage, better pillows and maybe a heat pad (or Icy Hot?) could be in Scherzer’s immediate future. That’s a whole lot better than the fears Nationals fans were surely experiencing at the thought that another one of their top starting pitchers could be sidelined by injury, following Stephen Strasburg’s forearm discomfort that was later diagnosed as a nerve impingement.
Just in case, however, maybe Babe Scherzer can take it easy next time he’s at the plate. The Nats have other guys who can drive runs in and hit the ball out of the park.
