Surprising move works as Nats win
LOS ANGELES — The Washington Nationals turned a bullpen day for one of their aces into a postseason game day, and they may run more starting pitchers out for spot stints as a bridge to their unreliable relievers.
Max Scherzer took an unexpected turn in relief during Washington’s 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers late Friday night, helping to even their bestof-five National League Division Series at a game apiece. It was his fourth career postseason relief appearance and came after a commanding performance from Stephen Strasburg on the shortest rest of his career.
The move may force the Nationals to bump Scherzer, their scheduled starter for Game 3 tonight, back to Game 4 on Monday. But with Washington leading on Friday at Los Angeles — which led the NL with 106 victories in the regular season — Nationals manager Dave Martinez wagered the one-inning outing was his best bet to fly home with a win.
“You can see it in Max’s eyes that he was ready to dominate,” Washington closer Daniel Hudson said. “Max out of the ’pen is a different animal.”
Since Madison Bumgarner’s five-inning save for the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, it has become increasingly common for top-tier starters to be called on for October relief. Those outings have usually come in winor-go home situations — rarely in the second game of a series.
Scherzer’s appearance Friday night may signal a shift. After starting in Tuesday’s NL wildcard game, a 4-3 win against the Milwaukee Brewers, the 35-yearold with three Cy Young Awards was scheduled to throw a bullpen session as part of his regular routine between starts. Martinez simply had Scherzer get his work in during the game.
Said Scherzer: “I felt I could really go one inning and recover from that.”
The Nationals, with their lights-out top of the rotation and rickety relief corps, could be tempted to squeeze similar outings out of Strasburg and Patrick Corbin as long as they’re around this month.
“Before we even got to the playoffs, our game plan was to try to utilize these guys the best way possible without disrupting their starts,” Martinez said. “We talked to all of them, and they have all been on board.”
It’s a risky maneuver — pitchers don’t generally max out during bullpen sessions, and Scherzer could be limited tonight if he starts — but it’s a necessary one for a club trying to limit exposure for its relievers. The Nationals tied the Dodgers for the NL high with 29 blown saves this season.
And if it works, more clubs will certainly try it.
“This is the playoffs,” Scherzer said. “You lay it on the line every time you touch that field.”