Despite mechanical glitches, Scherzer dominates Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Max Scherzer felt like his mechanics were out of whack today, his fastball command off, his fatigue level coming sooner than he'd normally like.

The result of all those problems: five innings of scoreless ball, with the only two hits he allowed coming in his final inning.

"That's a pretty good outing for a guy who didn't really have it all together," manager Dusty Baker noted.

Yes, indeed. If this is how Scherzer looked when he wasn't in top form, imagine how he might look when all the pieces do actually come together.

Scherzer and the Nationals hope that happens in the next week, given the fact he's almost out of time to prepare himself for the regular season. After being held back by a finger injury for most of the spring, he was on the mound today facing another big league lineup for only the second time this spring. And he's scheduled for only one more tune-up - Saturday against the Red Sox at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis - before things actually count.

"I enjoy the adversity in spring training because that's the stuff you have to face during the season," the right-hander said. "I'd rather cruise during the regular season and struggle in spring."

Again, adversity for Scherzer is a relative term because he has set the bar so high for himself while winning two Cy Young Awards, twice winning 20 games and making the All-Star team four times.

So from Scherzer's perspective, the three walks he issued today and the fact he needed 85 pitches to complete five innings were somewhat troubling. From Baker's perspective, the fact his ace was able to emerge from that without surrendering a run to the Mets was most encouraging.

"This is how it's going to be. You're not always going to have your primo stuff," the manager said. "He had to pitch out of some trouble. But he was good. He was very good. His control of his fastball wasn't quite the way he wanted, but I didn't really expect that. He expects it, but we don't really expect it, cause he's behind a little bit in starts."

Scherzer had only made his Grapefruit League debut five days ago, throwing 73 pitches in 4 2/3 innings against the Cardinals. He wanted to ramp up to 95 pitches today. Pitching coach Mike Maddux wanted to hold him to 80. The two bartered and settled on 88.

Completely sharp or not, Scherzer did have positive results from the outset. He struck out both José Reyes and Michael Conforto to begin his afternoon. Then he struck out Phillip Evans and Tim Tebow in the second inning, blowing away the former Heisman Trophy winner-turned-baseball spectacle on three fastballs that all registered 96-97 mph.

Scherzer struck out Tebow again in the fifth, this time needing four pitches to do it, including an 88 mph cutter that the bulky left-handed batter surely never saw during his days playing high school ball.

"You got the whole stadium standing and cheering for that," Scherzer said. "That's always going to fire you up. You always want to get him out."

Scherzer got into his only jam of the afternoon after that, allowing singles to Travis Taijeron and Reyes, then putting both runners in scoring position after a wild pitch. But with fatigue starting to set in and the bullpen warming as he approached his pitch limit, he reached back and struck out Conforto on another cutter to end the inning and end his day on a high note.

"It's the little things, how you execute all the little pitches to increase efficiency and keep your pitch count under control," he said. "This is what's going on: As you're tired, the little things keep adding up. That's what spring training's about. It's just that I have just one more start to try to iron everything out, to get physically ready, mentally ready, everything ready for the season."