PHOENIX — On Max Scherzer’s return to Arizona, his Nationals teammates arrived bearing gifts.
The Nationals scored 10 runs in the first two innings in Washington’s 11-1 victory over the Diamondbacks in Scherzer’s first appearance in Chase Field since Sept. 26, 2009. He was traded to Detroit that offseason and signed a $210 million deal with the Nationals this winter.
“Interesting,” said Scherzer, who spent his first two major league seasons with the Diamondbacks and still lives in the Phoenix area. “I’m on the other side of the dugout. It’s good. This group of guys, and how they compete and how hard they play, it’s fun to get in and get a ‘W.’”
Scherzer also had two hits, beating out an infield single in a six-run second inning.
“To be able to continue to put up some runs, it always feels good because your teammates are showing up and playing well,” Scherzer said. “I was able to go out there and kind of do my thing and keep it there.”
Scherzer landed with the Tigers as part of a three-team trade that brought starters Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson to Arizona. While Kennedy won 21 games to help Arizona to the 2011 NL West title, neither has had the career of Scherzer, who won 82 games with Detroit and the 2013 AL Cy Young Award.
Scherzer, 3-3 with a 1.99 ERA, said he did not change his game plan despite owning a 10-0 lead entering the bottom of the second. It was a change — he had received an average of 2.86 runs in his previous six starts.
“That’s the trick in these situations,” he said. “You have to treat it like it’s a zero-zero game. You have to still pitch. You still have to throw all your off-speed. You have to pitch backwards. You have to do everything you planned on doing before the game. That’s what I’ve found, continue to pitch your game.”
Scherzer was struck in the back of the left leg by Arizona center fielder A.J. Pollock’s come-backer with one out in the first inning, but after walking around the mound for a moment and a visit from the trainer, he was able to continue.
“It hurt, but I wasn’t injured, and that’s the difference,” Scherzer said. “It hit the meat of the muscle, and as long as I was able to keep that stretched out and loose, I could still continue to pitch. It never did tighten up on me. It was just fortunate where I got hit.”