Scouting report • The two-time-defending NL East champion Nationals appear to have given up the chase this year, dispatching Daniel Murphy, Gio Gonzalez, Matt Adams and Ryan Madson in the last week or so. The bad news was that Washington did not pitch ace Max Scherzer against Milwaukee, the Cardinals’ chief wild-card rival, Sunday. Potentially worse news is that the former Parkway Central and Mizzou star will face the Cardinals on Monday.
But the 34-year-old Scherzer, whose next strikeout will be his 250th of the season, giving him five straight seasons at that level, will be facing 22-year-old Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty, who finished August with a 4-0 record and a 1.