RHP Max Scherzer, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, will sit out Sunday's series finale as he works out the kinks after experiencing next spasms. Scherzer (12-5, 2.21 ERA) is targeting Monday's game against Miami for his next start pending no issues following Saturday's bullpen session.

Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker will need to do some fancy footwork to adjust his starting pitching rotation this weekend.Two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and left-hander Gio Gonzalez will miss their scheduled starts against the Chicago Cubs. Scherzer (12-5, 2.21 ERA) is receiving an extra day of rest and will sit out Sunday's series finale as he works out the kinks after experiencing next spasms.Scherzer, 33, is targeting Monday's game against Miami for his next start pending no issues following Saturday's bullpen session.Gonzalez (9-5, 2.66 ERA) will miss Saturday's start with his wife expected to give birth to the couple's second child. Edwin Jackson (2-1, 2.84 ERA) will get the nod to face his former team while fellow right-hander Erick Fedde (0-1, 15.75 ERA) will start the finale.Washington (64-43) got off on the right foot in the opener of the three-game series with a 4-2 victory over Chicago (57-51).

RHP Max Scherzer told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to visit a chiropractor before determining whether he'll make his next scheduled start.The two-time Cy Young Award winner and five-time All-Star is being plagued by a stiff neck, an injury that caused him to exit Tuesday's game against the Miami Marlins in the second inning. Despite the early exit, Scherzer (12-5, 2.21 ERA) didn't seem overly concerned with his health issue. Manager Dusty Baker, however, was taking a more cautious approach. "The neck's a very delicate part to work on, especially with all the nerves and different things," Baker said. "That controls your vertebrae that controls your muscles that control everything. So we'll just have to really be careful when you're talking about the neck."

MIAMI -- The first-place Washington Nationals lost star pitcher Max Scherzer to a neck spasm and then blew a six-run lead, falling 7-6 to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.Scherzer hit his first career homer, a three-run blast, in the top of the second inning, but he could not throw a pitch in the bottom of the second. He left as a precaution and said postgame that he is day-to-day.Miami's Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer, tying the score 6-6 in the fifth, and teammate Derek Dietrich had the go-ahead RBI with a triple in the same inning.Washington's Howie Kendrick also had a big game, going 5-for-5 with a two-run homer. He tied his career high with five hits.Red Sox 12, Indians 10BOSTON -- Christian Vazquez socked a walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth inning to lead Boston over Cleveland at Fenway Park.Eduardo Nunez had four RBIs, Mitch Moreland crushed his 13th home run -- a three-run shot -- and Brock Holt and Mookie Betts each had an RBI for the Red Sox.Brandon... [More]

MIAMI -- The first-place Washington Nationals lost star pitcher Max Scherzer to a neck spasm and then blew a six-run lead, falling 7-6 to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.Scherzer hit his first career homer, a three-run blast, in the top of the second inning, but he could not throw a pitch in the bottom of the second. He left as a precaution and said postgame that he is day-to-day.Miami's Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer, tying the score 6-6 in the fifth, and teammate Derek Dietrich had the go-ahead RBI with a triple in the same inning.Washington's Howie Kendrick also had a big game, going 5-for-5 with a two-run homer. He tied his career high with five hits.Red Sox 12, Indians 10BOSTON -- Christian Vazquez socked a walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth inning to lead Boston over Cleveland at Fenway Park.Eduardo Nunez had four RBIs, Mitch Moreland crushed his 13th home run -- a three-run shot -- and Brock Holt and Mookie Betts each had an RBI for the Red Sox.Brandon... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer hit his first career homer and then exited early because of neck spasms Tuesday night at Marlins Park. Scherzer (12-5, 2.21 ERA) pitched a 1-2-3 first inning and then slugged a three-run homer to left in the top of the second. He came out to throw his warm-up pitches but left the mound, telling manager Dusty Baker: "I can't go."

RHP Max Scherzer hit his first career homer and then exited Tuesday night's game after just one inning due to a neck spasm. Scherzer (12-5, 2.21 ERA) pitched a 1-2-3 first inning and then slugged a three-run homer to left in the top of the second. The two-time Cy Young winner came out to throw his warm-up pitches, but left the mound, telling manager Dusty Baker, "I can't go."

RHP Max Scherzer (12-3, 2.23 ERA) will start against the Marlins on Tuesday. Scherzer enters this start as the National League leader in strikeouts, batting average allowed, innings pitched, strikeouts per nine innings and OPS against. In 11 career starts against the Marlins, Scherzer is 6-3 with a 3.50 ERA. And in six career starts at Marlins Park, he is 4-2 with a 2.11 ERA.

RHP Max Scherzer was his usual dominant self, tossing six strong innings, allowing three hits and one run. His nine strikeouts give him 201 on the year, the sixth straight campaign he has reached that plateau. Scherzer is the only active pitcher with a streak that long. "It's about consistency and executing with all my stuff," he said.

RHP Max Scherzer looks to bounce back from a rough (by his standards) start Friday, when he allowed five runs and eight hits in a five-inning no-decision against Arizona. In three starts against Milwaukee since joining the Nationals, Scherzer has a 2.57 ERA.

RHP Max Scherzer gave up three homers for the first time this season but avoided his first career loss in seven starts against Arizona when the Nationals rallied to tie it in the sixth inning. Scherzer gave up three homers in his first 10 pitches, his first three-homer game this season. "They had a good game plan against me," said Scherzer, 11-5 with a 2.26 ERA. "They beat me. Sometimes in this game, you get punched in the face. You have to learn from it. There are things I did today you can tell they are keying on. There is nothing broken here. I just have to fix some stuff that I am doing, sequencing-wise. They are keying on those locations. I knew that coming in. I just couldn't get the ball exactly where I wanted it."

RHP Max Scherzer will start Friday against the Diamondbacks. He is coming off a victory in his last start, giving up three hits in six scoreless innings against Cincinnati. He lowered his ERA to 2.01, best in the majors among qualified starters, and his 183 strikeouts are tops in the National League. He has dominated Arizona, the team that drafted him in 2006, going 5-0 with a 2.41 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 41 innings over six career starts.

RHP Max Scherzer leads the National League with 183 strikeouts. He struck out 10 against Cincinnati. It was the 12th time this season he struck out 10 or more, the 61st time in his career.

RHP Max Scherzer was named a starting pitcher for Tuesday night's 88th All-Star Game at Marlins Park in Miami. Scherzer, 32, will be making his second All-Star start. He was with the Detroit Tigers when he pitched a perfect inning at New York's Citi Field in 2013, when Sale followed with a pair of 1-2-3 innings and got the win.

Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale and Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer were named the starting pitchers for Tuesday night's 88th All-Star Game at Marlins Park in Miami. Sale will become the first pitcher to make consecutive All-Star starts representing different teams. He started for the American League last season while with the Chicago White Sox.The 28-year-old Sale also becomes the first pitcher to be named his league's starting pitcher in consecutive years since 2000-01 when Arizona's Randy Johnson did so for the National League. Sale also is the first in the AL since Toronto's Dave Stieb in 1983-84.In last year's game in San Diego, Sale pitched the first inning and allowed a two-out home run to Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs.Sale, who was traded in December to the Red Sox for top prospects, is 11-4 with a 2.75 ERA and a major league-leading 178 strikeouts in 127 2/3 innings and 18 starts this season.Scherzer, 32, will be making his second All-Star start. He was with... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer struck out 10 batters but did not get a decision on Friday. It was the 60th time in his career that he fanned at least 10.

RHP Max Scherzer is slated to start Friday at home against the Braves. He has 10 wins and is one of three pitchers in the last 21 years to win at least 10 games before the All-Star break five years in a row. The others are Greg Maddux and Roy Halladay.

RHP Max Scherzer totally stifled St. Louis Sunday night, allowing just two hits and two walks in seven shutout innings and fanning 12 to earn his 10th win. It was the 10th double-figure strikeout game for Scherzer this year and the 59th of his career. Right-handed batters are a pitiful 25-for-211 against him this year, a pitcher-like .118 average which is by far the lowest in baseball.

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals hold sizable leads in their division races, and each team had three players voted to the starting lineup of the All-Star Game on July 11 in Miami.The All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers were all announced Sunday. Starters were selected by a fan vote, and the pitchers and reserves were chosen by a combination of player vote and selections made by the commissioner's office.The three Astros voted as starters for the American League were second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder George Springer.Washington's representatives in the National League starting lineup will be first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Daniel Murphy and outfielder Bryce Harper, who was the leading vote-getter in the NL.San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart and outfielders Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies and Marcell Ozuna of the host Miami Marlins... [More]

RHP Max Scherzer gets the call Sunday night when Washington finishes its weekend series in St. Louis. Scherzer rolled through his last start Tuesday night, beating the Chicago Cubs 6-1 in Nationals Park as he gave up only two hits and a run in six innings with no walks and six strikeouts. He lost to the Cardinals on April 12, but has pitched to a 2.00 ERA in three career starts at Busch Stadium.