Scherzer stays in after comebacker off knee (Nationals win 6-5)

Few images would cause the Nationals and their fans to clutch their hearts right now more than the sight of Max Scherzer writhing in the ground in pain. Thus, the reaction inside Nationals Park tonight in the top of the fourth when the ace right-hander went down in a heap after taking a comebacker off his left knee was one of shock and then panic.

Scherzer stayed in the game and completed the inning, though not until after several tense minutes in which he convinced manager Dusty Baker and head athletic trainer Paul Lessard he was good to go. And not until after he gave up two runs to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

The scary moment occurred during the second at-bat of the top of the fourth, when Michael Saunders ripped a ball 100 mph off the bat and appeared to hit Scherzer flush on the left knee. Scherzer fell to the ground, but then he got up and tried to walk it off, only to go down again and begin writhing in agony as Baker and Lessard rushed from the dugout.

After some manual tests and plenty of conversation, Scherzer got back to his feet and started walking around again, eventually making his way to the mound. With the crowd roaring "Let's Go, Scherzer!" he threw three warmup tosses to Jose Lobaton and pronounced himself fine to continue as Baker and Lessard reluctantly retreated to the dugout.

Scherzer wound up facing five more batters before the inning ended, allowing RBI singles to both Brock Stassi and Andrew Knapp. He had to run hard to back up third base on a fly ball to right, showing no ill effects of the injury.

He ended the fourth inning with his pitch count at 76, nobody warming in the Nationals bullpen.

Update: I really don't know what else you can say about Scherzer, except to say he is one amazing individual. As if staying in the game after that comebacker off the knee wasn't crazy enough, how about an immaculate inning after that? Yes, he struck out the side in the top of the fifth on nine pitches. Amazing.

And Scherzer's teammates rewarded him for the effort, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jose Lobaton led off with a double, took third on Scherzer's fly ball to right and scored on Trea Turner's sac fly to left. After Chris Heisey singled, Bryce Harper ripped a double down the right-field line, giving the Nationals a 3-2 lead. Harper is 3-for-3 tonight and has raised his batting average to .387, a mere point behind Ryan Zimmerman for the league lead.

Update II: Back and forth they go. The Phillies tied the game in the top of the sixth via Saunders' double and Andrés Blanco's RBI single. Scherzer was pulled after getting through the inning on 105 pitches, with Brian Goodwin sent to the plate to pinch-hit for him. That move worked, because Goodwin delivered a two-out, opposite-field double into the left field corner to score Lobaton and give the Nats a 4-3 lead. Now all they need is nine outs from the bullpen. First man up is Matt Grace.

Update III: Well, you've heard this one before: The Nationals bullpen has turned a late lead into a late deficit. Grace and Jacob Turner combined to give up two runs in the top of the eighth, turning a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit. It's a broken record at this point, not much else to say. ... Except the lineup keeps doing everything it can to overcome the bullpen. Michael A. Taylor's two-run homer off the left field foul pole in the bottom of the eighth has given the Nats the lead again. It's 6-5. They still need to record three more outs, however.

Update IV: Matt Albers got those three outs, in order, to record his second save.