Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer leaves start in Milwaukee after five innings with apparent leg issue/injury...

Milwaukee Brewers’ third baseman Travis Shaw hit a comebacker off Max Scherzer’s back (left) leg in the first inning of tonight’s game in Miller Park.

Washington’s right-hander shook it off initially, and stayed in for another four innings, but looked uncomfortable in the fourth, bringing Dusty Baker and Mike Maddux to the mound for a visit.

Scherzer stayed in at that point too, however, and he remained in even after it looked like he was unable to run when he grounded out to end the Nationals’ half of the fifth.

Scherzer finished the bottom of the fifth inning, working around a walk, but he didn’t come back out for the sixth with left-hander Oliver Perez replacing the starter on the mound in a 1-1 game.

Max Scherzer’s Line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 Ks, 75 P, 44 S, 5/2 GO/FO.

We’re officially in not-panicking mode on this one, but we won’t tell you how to react.

Why Scherzer stayed in as long as he did when he clearly looked uncomfortable? We won’t blame you for asking that question, but it could have just tightened up on him and gotten worse as the game went along.

With a 15.0-game lead in the division, however, and the injury issues (to his neck) that Scherzer has dealt with, and all the injuries to the Nationals as a team, you’d hope they were monitoring the situation closely and decided it wasn’t worth it to take Scherzer any deeper into the outing.

More information when it’s available, likely after the game when Dusty Baker talks to reporters in Milwaukee.

Oliver Perez gave up a two-out walk and a run after taking over, btw, and the Brewers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth...