'Expect the unexpected': Nationals in awe of Max Scherzer's gutsy World Series performance days after injury

HOUSTON — Max Scherzer stood on the stage, grabbed the World Series trophy, hoisted it high in the air and couldn’t see.

Tears poured down his cheeks, dripping onto what was left of his Washington Nationals uniform.

This was like a dream, a miracle really.

He woke up Sunday morning, scheduled to pitch Game 5, and couldn’t lift his right arm above his head. His wife, Erica, had to help dress him. She drove him to Nationals Park for a cortisone shot and treatment. It was the most excruciating journey of his life.

“Every bump in the road created level 10 pain in my neck," Scherzer said. "Every pothole. When they’re doing construction left and right. Not good. Every single pothole was level 10."

The pain was bad enough, but even worse, he believed he let his team down, costing them the World Series championship, and single-handedly ruining their season. They lost Game 5 in Washington. If they lost Game 6 in Houston, he would have spent all winter wondering what could have been.

So, here he was Wednesday night, pitching perhaps the gutsiest game of his life,  a 6-2 victory in Game 7 over the Houston Astros. 

“I have to give my wife a ton of credit for believing in me," Scherzer said. “Because when I woke up the day of Game 5, she saw me. I was a mess. I couldn’t raise my elbow above my head. I felt I was letting the team down. She had to stay in the fight.

“She said, 'Hey, you could treat it. We know Stras (Stephen Strasburg) is going to deal. You’re going to get Game 7. Let’s go.’

“Even when I was at my worst moment, she had the belief in it. She had this dream as much as anybody."

Is it really a dream, or is it a miracle?

“You can’t really call it a miracle," Nats outfielder Adam Eaton said, “but it will be a reality-TV movie. Come on, how many books are going to be written about this?

“Who gave us a chance? Nobody."

The Nats had to survive a 19-31 start just to reach the playoffs. They overcame five postseason elimination games. They didn’t win a single World Series game at home.

“We fought together, we stayed in the fight," Scherzer said, “and we won the damn fight. We did it.

“The old guys. The Viejos. The old guys can do it. We have the experience. We don’t fold under pressure. We deserve this.’’

It was only fitting that Scherzer started the biggest game in Nationals history, symbolizing the heart and soul of this organization.

“I remember seeing him on the trainer’s table two days ago," Nats hitting coach Kevin Long said. "I thought he had surgery. He said, 'Sorry, buddy, I can’t do it.’

“Now, to see him out there today, competing, that’s sheer joy for me and all of us."

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Scherzer believed this day would come, or he never would have committed seven years to the organization when he signed a $210 million contract in January 2015. He won two Cy Young awards and cleared a path to Cooperstown. It wasn’t enough. He vowed to lead them to a World Series title.

He has taken the ball every five days, pitching with a broken knuckle and a broken nose.

Scherzer says he wasn’t pitching in any pain Wednesday, but even if he was, he wasn’t about to tell a soul.

He’s Mad Max. One of the toughest and baddest dudes you’ll ever find on the pitcher’s mound.

“What this guy has done, just to be out there, is incredible," Nats trainer Paul Lessard said. “He just wills things to happen sometimes. It’s amazing some of the things he’s gone through this year. The broken nose. He had a broken third finger (in 2018), he starts throwing three-finger fastballs. Everything’s a challenge to him.

“And he’s always up to the challenge."

It was hardly vintage Scherzer. He didn’t thrive, he merely survived. He gave up a homer to Yuli Gurriel in the second inning. A run-scoring single by Carlos Correa in the fifth. He permitted 11 of the last 23 batters he faced to reach base. He didn’t strike out his first batter until the fourth inning. And, for the first time in 257 consecutive starts – the longest since the live-ball era began in 1920 – he walked more batters (four) than he struck out.

But, man, did he pitch on guts, refusing to break. Despite all the base traffic, all the hard-hit balls, never did Nationals manager Dave Martinez or pitching coach Paul Menhart have a reliever warming up until after the fifth inning.

“Hey, it’s Max Scherzer," Menhart said. “A three-time Cy Young winner. A future Hall of Famer. The ultimate warrior. The greatest competitor.

“Now, the World Series champion."

Scherzer, 35, was in a neck brace just a day earlier, receiving therapy twice a day, praying the Nationals would win Game 6.

“I don’t think anybody really knew what to expect," Nats closer Sean Doolittle said, “when he took the ball. After what he went through with his neck, you don’t know how that’s going to hold up with his violent delivery. You don’t know what his stamina is going to be like. But with Max, we’ve come to expect the unexpected.

“It was gutsy, man. ...He willed us to stay in the game and that was awesome. I know guys fed off it."

Really, it was all they could talk about after the game. They hugged him on the field. They kissed him on stage. They called out his name while dancing in the clubhouse. They inserted his name while singing Baby Shark, a children's song adopted by Gerardo Parra as his walk-up music. They drenched him with as much beer as they could find.

“My God," Scherzer said, as Parra dumped three beers at once over his head, “is that ever cold. And God, does that ever feel good."

The last time he was at a parade was when the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup in the summer of 2018. He grabbed Long, and they hit the streets, celebrating on the parade route like any other fan.

“This is going to be a party," he said. "The party of all parties. The World Series trophy is coming to D.C."

Follow USA TODAY Sports baseball columnist Bob Nightengale on Twitter @BNightengale