The injuries appear to be amounting for the Washington Nationals. A day after Anthony Rendon took a pitch off his elbow, keeping him out of the lineup Sunday, Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer tweaked his intercostal muscle in his left rib cage dodging a foul ball in the dugout in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game against Miami.
Scherzer’s next start is slated for Friday against San Diego.
The Nationals avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-0 win over Miami behind an impressive performance from Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg pitched eight scoreless innings. Meanwhile, Ryan Zimmerman collected two solo home runs.
However, the attention will almost certainly be focused Scherzer (as well as Rendon). Through five starts, Scherzer has struggled with a 4.45 ERA and a record of 1-3.
Following his most recent loss Saturday to the Marlins, Scherzer admitted he was having trouble locating his pitches.
A tweak in his ribs will only complicate matters as Scherzer, who coincidentally leads all of MLB with 44 strikeouts, searches to get back on track.
