Homer bug follows Scherzer into postseason

WASHINGTON — During a 2016 season in which Max Scherzer easily led Major League Baseball in strikeouts, he quietly topped the National League in a more dubious category: home runs allowed.

It made sense, therefore, that Scherzer began Friday’s Game 1 of the National League Division Series with a strikeout of Chase Utley followed by a first-pitch home run served up to Corey Seager. The Nationals lost to the Dodgers, 4-3, largely because Scherzer, despite his usual swing-and-miss stuff, could not keep the ball in the park.

Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 7   LAD 4, WAS 3 FS1 Gm 2 Oct. 8 4 p.m. LAD @ WSH FS1 Gm 3 Oct. 10 4 or 6 p.m. WAS @ LAD MLBN *Gm 4 Oct. 11 5 or 8 p.m. WAS @ LAD FS1 *Gm 5 Oct. 13 5 or 8 p.m. LAD @ WSH FS1 *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Dodgers | Nationals • Dodgers vs. Nationals NLDS coverage

All of the damage against Scherzer came in the game’s first three innings. Seager’s solo homer in the first was followed by an Utley RBI single and a Justin Turner two-run shot in the third.

“Just mistakes,” Scherzer said of the homer balls. “With Seager, I was trying to throw a belt-in fastball, and it was belt away, and that’s why he was able to get his arms …

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