The Washington Nationals placed right-hander Max Scherzer on the 10-day injured list Monday four days after he matched his shortest outing of the season, going five innings against the Colorado Rockies.
Scherzer, 35, was diagnosed with a mild rhomboid strain. He was replaced on the active roster by right-hander Erick Fedde.
Scherzer had just come back from a back injury when he faced the Rockies on Thursday, giving up three runs on four hits over five innings with two walks and eight strikeouts. But he continued to feel back tightness a day later and was sent for an MRI exam.
Scherzer is 9-5 this season with a 2.41 ERA over 20 starts. He is 168-87 with a 3.17 ERA over his 12-year career, the last five with the Nationals.
Fedde, 26, was 1-1 with a 3.40 ERA in 13 appearances (eight starts) with the Nationals earlier this season. He is 3-6 with a 5.12 ERA over 27 career appearances (22 starts) with the Nationals over parts of the past three seasons.