Scherzer pulled early with leg injury, Nats rally to win 3-2

MILWAUKEE - Max Scherzer seemed to get through the neck issue that briefly landed him on the disabled list. But when a comebacker struck him in the lower left leg during the bottom of the first inning tonight at Miller Park, the Nationals ace suddenly found himself compensating for a new physical ailment.

And the result wasn't all that pretty to watch.

Showing obvious effects of from the ball off his leg, Scherzer lasted only five innings against the Brewers, pulled despite allowing only one run on only 75 pitches. The Nationals still did pull off a dramatic, come-from-behind, 3-2 victory thanks to a pair of big hits from Michael A. Taylor and Trea Turner in the top of the eighth, reducing their magic number to clinch the division title to 13.

The final score, truth be told, felt less significant than the state of Scherzer, who despite continuing to put up dominant stats has now either needed to leave or be scratched from a scheduled start three times in the last 33 days.

A neck ailment forced Scherzer out of his Aug. 1 start in Miami after one inning. A similar ailment, shifted to the other side of his neck, forced him to be scratched from his Aug. 18 start in San Diego. Now came this abbreviated outing, with the right-hander pretty clearly hampered through most of his evening.

It was Travis Shaw's hot shot back up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the first which struck Scherzer in the lower left leg. He managed to track down the ball and toss underhanded to first base to end the inning, and all appeared to be fine.

Scherzer did retire the first nine batters he faced in the game, but even then there were indications he might not be 100 percent right. His fastball velocity was down a tick or two, regularly reading 91-93 mph. His breaking ball command wasn't sharp. And, most notably, anytime he tried to run, he was hobbled, most notably when he grounded out in the top of the fifth and took only a couple steps out of the box before stopping.

Despite all that, Scherzer was allowed to continue pitching, and his results were still positive. He allowed one run and two hits over his five innings, the lone run coming on an Eric Sogard single and Eric Thames double in the bottom of the fourth. He actually managed to lower his league-best ERA tonight, from 2.21 to 2.19.

Scherzer might have come away with a win had his teammates been able to score more than one run in seven innings against Brewers rookie Brandon Woodruff. The young right-hander, making his fourth career start, allowed only two hits, one of the Ryan Zimmerman's RBI single in the top of the fourth.

And when Oliver Pérez, who replaced Scherzer in the sixth, gave up the tiebreaking run via two walks and a chopper over Zimmerman's head that then was mishandled by both Daniel Murphy and Jayson Werth, the Nationals found themselves needing to mount a late rally.

Michael A. Taylor took care of the first part, pouncing on lefty Josh Hader's first pitch of the eighth for his first home run since returning from an oblique strain three weeks ago. A few minutes later, after Wilmer Difo beat out a bunt for a single, Trea Turner ripped a double off the wall in center field, bringing home Difo with the go-ahead run.

The Nationals bullpen then did its part to finish this one off. Ryan Madson, making his first appearance since a sprained index finger forced him to the DL three weeks ago, pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Brandon Kintzler, the former Brewer who resurrected his career after he was cut loose in 2015, also retired the side in the eighth. Sean Doolittle then pitched the ninth to notch his 14th save in as many opportnunities since his July acquisition.