Matt Williams explains decision to hold Max Scherzer until Sunday

Most expected Nationals manager Matt Williams to send Max Scherzer to the mound tonight against the Dodgers to set the tone for the second half of the season. But Williams opted to hold Scherzer until Sunday, where the ace will square off with Dodgers right-hander Zack Grienke in a whale of a pitching matchup. Williams explained his reasons for giving Scherzer the extra rest earlier.

"His workload has been pretty immense as compared to what he's used to," Williams said. "Certainly pitch counts are one thing but ups and innings are different. The fact that he pitched the last game and went into the ninth inning is a factor. One off day in the next 31 days is a factor. So I have to look at it long term as we all do and look at the next 31 days and how much rest he's gonna get, which will be virtually none. This is an opportunity, probably the only opportunity, that we'll have to give him a couple extra days."

Scherzer's three complete games are the most in the National League and his 132 innings pitched are the fourth highest total in the majors.

Because he is pitching Sunday, Scherzer will not be available to face the Mets, who trail the Nationals in the NL East by two games, when they come to D.C. for a three-game series beginning Monday. Williams was asked if he took that into consideration when making his rotation decisions.

"Well, we have three games against the Dodgers that we want to win," Williams said. "And after that we got four games against the Pirates after the Mets that we want to win. So if we get to where we want to get to, it's gonna take five guys, not one."

"I know there's a lot made of it and I can have an opinion about it and everybody else can too. But if we want to get to the postseason and be a contender in that postseason, we're gonna need all five of the guys. We've got to give some rest at some point. Granted, he's our ace but we're not looking at the opponent necessarily as we are the long term of the rest of the season."

Williams hasn't announced his plans for his starting pitchers for the Mets series. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez is expected to take the mound on Monday night but Tuesday's starter is up in the air with Stephen Strasburg (left oblique strain) on the 15-day disabled list. Williams could turn to Tanner Roark or the Nationals might recall rookie Joe Ross from Triple-A Syracuse.