The Washington Nationals missed their star starting pitcher Max Scherzer for nearly a month in the heat of their playoff push after he went down with back issues in late July.
Fortunately for them, Max Scherzer returned with a bang in a 7-1 Nationals win in Pittsburgh over the Pirates.
Scherzer returned on a pitch limit after missing 29 days with his back problems, and he threw only 4 innings in the Nationals win. However, in those four innings, he looked as dominant as always, allowing only four hits and one run while striking out three Pirates.
The 35-year-old even got in the act at the plate, knocking a base hit off of Pirates starter Steven Brault.
Despite the absence of Scherzer, the Nats have kept pace in the NL Wild Card race and in the NL East and look to be a good bet to make the playoffs. Trailing the Braves by 6 games in their division and leading in the Wild Card standings, they have been one of the hottest teams in baseball in recent weeks.
The addition of Scherzer to their rotation only makes them stronger as they look to close the gap on the Braves in the NL East race and eventually make noise come playoff time.
