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| - Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner as top pitcher, departed after pitching only one inning Wednesday for defending Major League Baseball champion Washington against the New York Mets. Scherzer, who was limited to 27 starts last year with back injuries, threw 27 pitches, 14 for strikes, before tweaking his right hamstring after running toward first base on a groundout. The 36-year-old right-hander was replaced by Erick Fedde to open the second inning of what proved to be a 3-1 loss to the Mets. Scherzer allowed one run on one hit and a walk with one strikeout, but his fastball speed was below his season average. After being scratched from a planned game five start in last year's World Series with neck pain, Scherzer took the mound for game seven and the Nats defeated Houston for the title last October. Scherzer, in his 13th MLB campaign, won Cy Young awards with Detroit in 2013 and the Nationals in 2016 and 2017. This season, he had a 2.84 earned-run average with 21 strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings. He had not pitched since July 29, in part because of games that were called off due to the Miami Marlins having 20 positive tests among players and staff for COVID-19, the virus that delayed the start of the season from March and forced a shortened schedule from 162 to 60 games per club. Washington has already had issues with its starting rotation this season as star Stephen Strasburg has not yet played because of a right hand nerve issue, missing two starts in which Fedde appeared instead. js/rcw
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