Los Angeles Dodgers ace Max Scherzer, who said Sunday that his “arm was dead,” was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Atlanta, multiple media outlets reported Friday night.
The Braves, who lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, beat Scherzer in Game 2, when he allowed two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one while throwing 79 pitches.
In Scherzer’s place Saturday, the Dodgers could move up their scheduled Game 7 pitcher, Walker Buehler, to work on three days’ rest. Buehler came back on short rest to pitch Game 4 of the NL Division Series against the San Francisco Giants, and he turned in 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball as the Dodgers posted a 7-2 victory to force a decisive fifth game, which they won.
Another option for Game 6 could be a bullpen game led by David Price, who was just added to the roster Friday as an injury replacement for Joe Kelly, or Tony Gonsolin.
Los Angeles has been without veteran left-hander Clayton Kershaw throughout the postseason due to a forearm injury.
The Dodgers acquired Scherzer from the Washington Nationals in a July 30 trade, and he went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA in the regular season for Los Angeles, with the team winning all 11 of his starts. He is 0-1 with a save and a 2.16 ERA in four appearances (three starts) during the 2021 postseason.
He threw 179 1/3 innings during the regular season and has added 16 2/3 innings in the postseason.
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, led the Nationals to the 2019 World Series title. He went 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA in six postseason games (five starts) that year.
–Field Level Media