The Nationals suffered a devastating blow before Game 5 even started on Sunday night (Oct. 27) when their ace Max Scherzer, who was slated to start, announced he would be unable to pitch due to severe irritation and spasms in his neck nerve and right trapezius.
“Yeah, I wake up, and the moment I wake up it just completely — I couldn’t get out of bed,” Scherzer told reporters. “Like, it really hurt to get out of bed. I had to just basically fall out of bed and pick myself up with my left arm and I was moving around, just couldn’t even move my arm. I just knew at that point I was in a really bad spot.”
#Nats’ starter Max Scherzer on injury keeping him out of Game 5 of the #WorldSeries; having faith in Joe Ross: pic.twitter.com/LAETLNg5aM
— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) October 27, 2019
Scherzer, who received a cortisone shot in the affected area, said he’s hopeful he may be able to pitch in Game 7. Of course, that’s if there even is one; Joe Ross started Game 5 in place of Scherzer and gave up four runs in five innings as the Nationals fell to the Astros for the third time in a row, losing 7-1.
“It stinks,” Nationals closer Sean Doolittle said after the game. “We feel bad about it. They came out, they showed up, the city waited 86 years for a World Series. Shoot, man, it’s frustrating, it really is. I wonder if we were pressing a little bit just with the atmosphere that was here at Nats Park, how good the fans were. Sometimes, you want to really put that exclamation point on the situation, and bring the crowd to their feet. I’m wondering if that played a role in it.”
The Nationals will have another chance to stay alive on Tuesday night (Oct. 29) in Game 6 at 8 p.m. EST.
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