WASHINGTON — Nationals manager Dave Martinez announced that starter Max Scherzer was scratched from his Game 5 start against the Houston Astros because of spasms in his upper right trapezius.
Righty Joe Ross will take Scherzer’s place and will face Astros ace Gerrit Cole. The Nationals and Astros enter Sunday night’s game tied at two games apiece.
“He’s really upset about this,” Martinez said, adding that the normally animated Scherzer was “very quiet.”
Martinez said that Scherzer started feeling pain upon waking on Saturday and it worsened overnight leading into Sunday. After the issue didn’t improve despite receiving treatment from Washington’s training staff, Martinez decided to replace him.
Scherzer’s injury means that the much-anticipated Game 1 rematch against Cole, an American League Cy Young favorite, will not happen. However, Martinez said that Scherzer will continue to undergo treatment and the club hopes he will be able to pitch later in the series.
Scherzer, 35, went 11-7 with 2.92 ERA during the season but was limited to 27 starts because of back problems. Martinez said the new injury appears to be unrelated to that.
Ross, 26, went 4-4 with a 5.48 ERA this season over 27 appearances, including nine starts. He wasn’t on Washington’s roster during the early rounds of the postseason but was added for the World Series. He’s made one appearance, throwing two scoreless innings in Game 3. This will be his second career postseason start. He allowed four runs over 2 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2016 NLDS.