Scherzer "building up" for Tuesday wild card start

Nationals manager Davey Martinez confirmed his ace, Max Scherzer, will get the start in Tuesday's National League wild card game at Nats Park. The first pitch will be a little after 8 p.m. against the Brewers or the Cardinals. It will mark Scherzer's 14th postseason start.

Colorado beat Milwaukee 3-2 in 10 innings and the Cubs toppled the Cardinals 8-6 yesterday. St. Louis leads the Brewers by one game for the NL Central title. If the Cardinals lose today and the Brewers win, they will have a one game playoff Monday. The loser of that game would come to D.C. for Tuesday's matchup.

As for the right-hander Scherzer, regardless of opponent, the Nats knew this day was coming, so they set it up for him to start the wild card matchup.

"We've been kind of eyeing that for a while," Scherzer said after his pregame workout on Saturday. "Just how we were setting up the rotation, of options whether I was going to throw the last game of the year or be ready for the wild card game. Also, the rest of the rotation as well. When they were pitching, their availability for the wild card game would be as well. Really, that's been in the works for a while."

The last month has been ramping up to a level where Scherzer could go the long haul again, pitch at 100 percent for a full game. Since Sept. 8, a span of four starts, he has thrown between 98 and 101 pitches per start. But he also has allowed a combined 12 earned runs in his last three outings, including four homers in his last two starts.

"I've been building up ever since I kind of got through the back thing, where I can go out there and really give it my all for 100 pitches, and was definitely ready last start to go to that 110, 115," Scherzer said. "Whatever the team needs, I'm ready to give it."

Scherzer has pitched in six different division series, four with the Tigers, two with the Nationals. This will be his first wild card game start. He is well aware of what is at stake.

"I just look at it as an elimination game," Scherzer said. "Season's on the line. I've pitched in these situations before and it's just crazy baseball. Intensity's out of your mind. And you've got to go out there and be your best and just compete as hard as you can."

At 35 years old, the same age as Ryan Zimmerman, Scherzer will be one of the veterans on this team who has been through the postseason and elimination games more than once. How do you not let your head spin if the team gets off to a slow start?

Scherzer said the key is to use the energy of the big moment to fuel you, and not let it cause you to wilt from the pressure.

"Just feed off the adrenaline of the atmosphere," Scherzer said. "Don't try to shy away from it. Don't try to calm things down. Don't make it any different. Rise to the occasion. Just rise to the atmosphere. Use it. Use it to your advantage. My first postseason, they were like, 'Slow everything down, slow everything down.' That doesn't work for me. It just doesn't. Learn quickly, no, you rise to it, and that's when I started pitching better."

Scherzer has thrown in two Game Five elimination games for the Nats. In 2016, he allowed one run in six innings in a start against the Dodgers. Los Angeles won 4-3. In 2017, he allowed four runs (two earned) in one inning of relief against the Cubs. Chicago won 9-8. He is 4-5 with a 3.73 ERA in 16 postseason appearances (13 starts), with 100 strikeouts in 82 innings.

Martinez has let it be known that if Scherzer does struggle, Stephen Strasburg, Aníbal Sánchez and Patrick Corbin will be waiting in the wings to get outs to help the Nats find a way to win. Scherzer will start, but if the Nats advance, he could be used in that same relief role later in the postseason, as he did in that Game Five in 2017.

"For me, personally, it doesn't matter too much, because I can throw my normal routine and you come in and there's a little more emphasis on that first batter, I'd say, than a start," Scherzer said. "Given how the game's being played today, guys are swinging at the first pitch more than ever now. You've got to be ready to get that first hitter out more so than ever as a starter now. Really shouldn't be too much of a difference."

As for having the game at Nats Park, Scherzer said it's a good thing, but he can pitch home or away and be effective.

"Would it be nice? Yes. But is it imperative? No," Scherzer said of home field. "We're ready to play anybody, anywhere. We get it. It's most likely going to be the Brewers. Obviously, they're a tough opponent, but we're ready to play anybody, anywhere."

Of course, it could also very well be the Cardinals.