Nats head back to Houston uncertain of Scherzer's status

The Nationals, at least publicly, don't appear to be any closer to knowing today if Max Scherzer will be able to return to pitch in the World Series than they were Sunday after scratching their ace from his scheduled Game 5 start due to nerve irritation and spasms in his neck and upper back.

"I haven't yet spoken to Max today. I'm waiting for him to get here," manager Davey Martinez said during a conference call with reporters shortly after 12:30 p.m. "Hopefully, he's a little bit better. We'll see, and I'll talk to him and I'll have more information sometime later today or tomorrow."

The Nationals were scheduled to fly to Houston this afternoon and were not planning to hold a formal workout at Minute Maid Park this evening, preferring to give players as much rest as possible on the eve of potentially the final game of the season.

The timing of that break actually fits in well for Scherzer, who after receiving a cortisone injection in his neck Sunday knew he'd need to wait a while before attempting to throw again. The goal, of course, is to get him ready to pitch a potential Game 7 on Wednesday night.

"That's what the doctors believe, with this nerve irritation," the right-hander said Sunday afternoon. "They think with the cortisone shot in there, that the neck can take - and 48 hours really helps decide the pain that's being alleviated - alleviate the pain from that neck nerve that's in my neck right now that's all pinched up. So for me, I'm just hoping that the doctors are right and that something could be possible for Game 7."

A 48-hour wait would prevent Scherzer from attempting to throw until Tuesday afternoon, shortly before Game 6. It's an awfully tight window for the Nationals to know whether he'll be ready to go.

"As we all know Max, he's probably going to try to push it up a little bit," Martinez said. "But we want him to let the medication kick in a little bit and then see where we're at."

For now, the Nationals know Stephen Strasburg is starting Game 6 against Justin Verlander, needing to win to force a decisive Game 7.

In a perfect world, they'd get at least six innings from Strasburg, who has done that in each of his last six postseason starts, four of them this month. A seven-inning start, something he did twice in the 2017 National League Division Series against the Cubs and once two weeks ago in the NL Championship Series against the Cardinals, would be even better and allow Martinez to go straight to top relievers Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson.

If Strasburg can't make it that far, Martinez could consider using one of his other starters (Aníbal Sánchez and Patrick Corbin) in relief in Game 6. That, however, would reduce his options for a Game 7, especially if Scherzer isn't able to make that start or isn't effective if he does pitch.

"That all depends on how Max progresses in the next 24-48 hours," Martinez said. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. But we've got to win this game to get to Game 7. So these guys all know that if we need them, they've got to be available."

Sánchez, who threw 93 pitches in 5 1/3 innings in Game 3, would be on full rest for Game 7. Corbin, who threw 21 pitches in one inning of relief in Game 1 and then 96 pitches in a six-inning start in Game 4, would be on short rest.

"Right now my focus is on Game 6," Martinez said. "We've got to treat that as Game 7 right now. There won't be Game 7 if we can't get out of Game 6. So I'll focus on just winning tomorrow and going 1-0 and go from there."