PHOENIX — Hello from Chase Field, where the roof is currently open and is scheduled to remain open for tonight’s series opener between the Nationals and Diamondbacks. As I type this, it’s 93 degrees here in the Valley of the Sun, but the wind chill is only 89! (This is what they mean when they talk about the “dry heat”.)
Max Scherzer returns to Phoenix to face his old team for the first time, pitching on normal rest while Stephen Strasburg is pushed back one day after his little bout of shoulder blade discomfort. The right-hander is coming off a start that didn’t look great statistically (five earned runs, 10 hits) but actually was quite an impressive outing (10 strikeouts, zero walks).