WASHINGTON (AP) – Two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer is scheduled to pitch Game 3 of Washington’s NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs, after Gio Gonzalez starts Game 2.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker finally announced his rotation plans, just a few hours before Game 1 of the series begins on Friday night.
Scherzer’s playoff debut this year was delayed because he tweaked his right hamstring in his last regular-season appearance.
For Gonzalez, 15-9 with a 2.96 ERA, it will be his fifth career postseason start but only second at home. The other came in 2012, when he was staked to a 6-0 lead in the deciding Game 5 of an NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals but Washington wound up losing 7-5.
Washington’s Game 1 batting order includes 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper hitting second, followed by Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman.
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