RHP Max Scherzer will start on Tuesday in Atlanta against the Braves. It will be the first Washington game in the new Sun Trust Park. Scherzer was 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA in nine career starts at Turner Field in Atlanta.

RHP Max Scherzer will make his second start of the year Wednesday in Washington. He got the win Friday in Philadelphia as he allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings and looks to help the Nationals get a series sweep against the reeling St. Louis Cardinals.

RHP Max Scherzer won his season debut in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon, going 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball to pick up the victory in a 7-6 win. The defending Cy Young Award winner was pulled with two outs in the seventh after throwing 98 pitches, including back-to-back four-pitch walks to open up that frame. His final line saw him give up two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and those two walks. "I need to throw more first-pitch strikes, and those two walks at the end, that's just going to eat at you," he said.

RHP Max Scherzer will make his first start of the season on Friday against the Phillies in Philadelphia. The reigning Cy Young Award winner told Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) that he was very pleased he didn't have to begin the year on the disabled list after he dealt with a knuckle injury during spring training. "I am so pumped to be able to do this," Scherzer said of his first start. Scherzer said he has no extra advantage having faced the Phillies several times. "I have plenty of guys who have hit me well," he told MASN. Fellow right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who spent time on the DL last year, started the opener on Monday after Scherzer got the nod in 2015 and 2016. "I am just glad they are both healthy," Washington manager Dusty Baker said of Scherzer and Strasburg.

RHP Max Scherzer threw two no-hitters in 2015 and then fanned 20 Detroit Tigers early last season. He was the only National League pitcher to win 20 games last season and he won the Cy Young Award last year, giving him awards in each league. Scherzer pitched five scoreless innings against the New York Mets on Monday in spring training and is slated to pitch Saturday against the Boston Red Sox at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. If all goes well, he would pitch against the Miami Marlins in the third game of the season.

Max Scherzer looked ready for the start of the season, going five scoreless innings and fanning seven as the Washington Nationals blanked a split New York Mets squad 6-0 on Monday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Bryce Harper belted a two-run homer and a solo shot while Trea Turner cracked two solo homers. Tim Tebow started in left field for the Mets and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.Red Sox 11, Orioles 9Sandy Leon homered twice, including a grand slam, in a nine-run fifth inning as Boston outscored Baltimore in Sarasota, Fla. Steve Selsky also homered for the Red Sox while Mitch Moreland was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Cedric Mullins and Johnny Giavotella belted homers for the Orioles while Mark Trumbo was 3-for-4 with a run.Mets (ss) 5, Marlins 0T.J. Rivera's three-run homer capped a five-run sixth that lifted a New York split squad to a win over Miami in Jupiter, Fla. Zack Wheeler tossed five shutout innings for New York, giving up just two hits and fanning three. Tom Koehler whiffed seven in 5 2/3 innings and didn't allow an earned run for the Marlins.

WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals young pitchers Reynaldo Lopez and Joe Ross, the latter of whom had been used as a pinch-runner in a crazy Game 5 of the National League Division Series, sat at their lockers and stared at the floor.Veteran reliever Oliver Perez walked over and gave a hug to reserve outfielder Chris Heisey, whose pinch-hit homer in the seventh had given their team late life.And starting pitcher Max Scherzer, staked to a lead going into the fateful seventh inning, gave a hug to rookie Trea Turner and told the young center fielder that he had an incredible second half of the season.It was a quiet clubhouse in the early morning hours Friday for the Nationals, who let a 1-0 lead slip away and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in the fifth and deciding game of the NLDS.The game lasted four hours, 32 minutes and will be remembered for Dodgers ace lefty Clayton Kershaw coming out of the bullpen to get the final two outs after he was the starting pitcher in Tuesday's Game 4."It's... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer started Game 5 of the NL Division Series and gave up five hits and one run in six-plus innings and did not figure in the decision. The Dodgers wound up winning 4-3. "Greatest game I have ever been a part of," he said.

RHP Max Scherzer gets the start in Game 5 of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers on Thursday. Scherzer was the starter and loser in Game 1 on Friday at Nationals Park. He gave up four runs in six innings with five strikeouts as the Dodgers won 4-3 in a game started by Clayton Kershaw."It is all about winning," Scherzer said. "When you get to the park and you come into the clubhouse, your only thought is about winning and what it takes to do that."

RHP Max Scherzer gave up four runs and five hits with five strikeouts in six innings Friday. He also gave up two homers after allowing 31 during the regular season. "They were first-ball jumping early," manager Dusty Baker said. "Evidently everybody knows he's going to throw a lot of strikes and a lot of early strikes, because they attacked him in his last start like that."

CLEVELAND -- Corey Kluber pitched seven scoreless innings in his first start in 10 days because of a strained quad and combined with two relievers on a three-hit shutout as the Cleveland Indians blanked the Boston Red Sox 6-0 on Friday in Game 2 of their American League Division Series at Progressive Field.Cleveland got all the runs it needed in a four-run second inning that was capped by a three-run homer by Lonnie Chisenhall to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series. Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday in Boston.Kluber, in his first career postseason start, held the American League's most prolific offense to three hits through seven innings. He was removed after walking the first batter and hitting the second in the eighth. Relievers Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw completed the shutout.Red Sox starter David Price came into the game hoping to reverse his dismal career postseason record, but instead fell to 0-8 as a starter and 2-8 with a 5.53 ERA overall.Blue Jays 5, Rangers 3ARLINGTON, Texas --... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer gave up five runs in five innings Sunday but got his 20th win as the Nationals scored three in the fifth to break a 5-5 tie. Scherzer also drove in a career-high four runs with a pair of two-run singles. He is aiming to be the sixth player to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues, as he won it in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers. "It is unbelievable," said Scherzer, who acknowledged that he did not have one of his best outings. "It is such a team accomplishment. I don't win 20 games without the rest of the guys in this clubhouse. Everybody came together and got it done. It is really special." Scherzer had not allowed five runs in a game since June 24. He won a career-high 21 games in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers. "Guys kept playing," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of facing Scherzer. "Who knows what kind of energy he has, how he looked at it. He pitched really good against us all year. To be able to come back and make it a game, again, really proud of our guys the way they continue to play."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Left-hander Matt Moore pitched eight innings of shutout ball and batterymate Buster Posey drove in three runs with three hits on Sunday as the San Francisco Giants competed a three-game sweep of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers with a 7-1 win Sunday to capture the second wild-card playoff spot in the National League.The Giants (87-75) will face the New York Mets (87-75) in the single-elimination wild card game on Wednesday in New York. The Mets earned the home-field advantage in the game by virtue of their 4-3 season-series win over the Giants.The Dodgers will open the NL Division Series on the road Friday against the Washington Nationals. Los Angeles clinched the NL West title last Sunday, then lost five of six this week to the San Diego Padres and Giants.Moore, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a game in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, was nearly as good on Sunday. The three hits he allowed all came in the fourth inning, by Justin Turner, Adrian Gonzalez and Yasmani... [More]

Close calls: we've had plenty of them in this baseball season. The final playoff spots and postseason seedings came down to results of games on the final day of the regular season.In forecasting who will win the major MLB awards this year, there are plenty of close calls, too. There were a half-dozen players who could have a case for the American League MVP and nearly as many for the National League MVP. The AL Rookie of the Year might be the toughest call of all.Here, then, are our predictions for how things will shake out when voting by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America is complete. As with the ballots that will be cast we have a top 10 for the MVP awards, top five for the Cy Young awards and top three for both the Manager of the Year and Rookie of the Year. (All statistics are entering play on Sunday).AL MVP1. David Ortiz (Red Sox) 2. Mike Trout (Angels)3. Jose Altuve (Astros)4. Mookie Betts (Red Sox)5. Manny Machado (Orioles)6. Josh Donaldson (Blue Jays)7. Adrian... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer will start Sunday in the series finale as he goes for his 20th win. Scherzer has a penchant for giving up homers and several Marlins have gone deep against him. He is aiming to be the sixth player to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues, as he won it in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers. The University of Missouri product leads the National League in strikeouts with 277 and fanned 20 Tigers in May. On Saturday, he was named the Nationals pitcher of the year by the local media.

RHP Max Scherzer (18-7, 2.82) will face Arizona RHP Matt Koch (1-1, 1.29) on Tuesday. Scherzer could make two more starts this year and has a shot at winning 20 games. He went 6 2/3 innings on Sept. 21 at Miami and gave up four hits and three runs.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Evan Gattis stayed red-hot and the Houston Astros kept pushing hard for a wild-card playoff berth in the American League on Wednesday at the Oakland Coliseum.Gattis hit his 29th and 30th home runs of the season, powering the Astros to a 6-5 victory over the Oakland A's. Gattis set career highs with each home run and now has 100 in his career. He has hit eight home runs against the A's this season and six home runs overall in Houston's past 10 games.The Astros, who are trailing Baltimore by one game for the American League's second wild-card spot, beat the A's for the seventh straight time and completed their second straight three-game series sweep of Oakland. They went 5-1 on their six-game road trip.McHugh (12-10) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking two. He won his 11th straight September game in 13 starts since 2014 with the Astros and improved to 6-1 in his career against Oakland.Dodgers 9, Giants 3LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer (18-7) beat the Marlins on Wednesday. Scherzer struck out eight and was working on a shutout until the seventh. That's when he gave up a solo homer to the upper deck in right field by Christian Yelich and a two-run pinch-hit blast by Derek Dietrich. That was it for Scherzer, who allowed four hits, two walks and three runs in 6 2/3 innings.

RHP Max Scherzer (17-7, 2.78 ERA) starts against the Marlins on Wednesday. He is tied for second in the NL in wins and is sixth in ERA. He also leads the majors with 259 strikeouts.

RHP Max Scherzer improved to 4-0 against the Braves this season, working seven innings Friday in a 6-2 victory. He allowed seven hits, struck out eight and walked two while running his record to 17-7. Scherzer's ERA is 2.78 and he leads the majors with 259 strikeouts. He has won five consecutive decisions.