WASHINGTON (AP) – Let the chocolate syrup flow.
As the Washington Nationals have set aside a slow start and entered Wednesday in a tie atop the NL East, they developed an unusual way to celebrate their mounting collection of comeback victories: Starting pitcher Max Scherzer pours chocolate from a bottle on the player responsible for producing the winning run.
Scherzer, who joined the Nationals in the offseason with a $210 million, seven-year contract, did his latest dousing Tuesday night, turning the goop on Ryan Zimmerman after the first baseman’s game-ending two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning lifted Washington past the New York Yankees 8-6.
“It’s just something to top off a good win,” Scherzer explained Wednesday. “Chocolate sauce is the perfect topping for ice cream, so might as well top off a game and give that person in the on-the-field camera interview a little something to taste.”
Scherzer, who won the 2013 AL Cy Young Award with Detroit, isn’t merely content to drop a dollop of the stuff.