Washington Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer leaves start vs Pirates with apparent injury...

Max Scherzer left tonight’s game with one out in the fourth inning after apparently tweaking something in his lower body.

There was no obvious injury to point to, just an odd reaction after delivering a pitch.

There wasn’t much of a discussion on the mound as team trainer Paul Lessard, pitching coach Mike Maddux, and Washington Nationals’ skipper Dusty Baker came out to talk to the 33-year-old right-hander, who simply reacted oddly after throwing an 84 mph changeup to Pittsburgh Pirates’ slugger Josh Bell.

It’s reasonable to assume that the move was precautionary and that the Nationals will note take any risks with any sort of issue at this point in the season, with the NLDS a week away.

Scherzer was 54 pitches into tonight’s outing when he hopped/stumbled after his final pitch of the night. His infielders came around to talk the Scherzer on the mound, and Daniel Murphy quickly motioned to the dugout to call the training staff to the hill.

Scherzer was dominant to that point, giving up just one hit and striking out five of the 12 batters he faced.

Max Scherzer’s Line: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks, 54 P, 38 S, 1/3 GO/FO.

Scherzer was coming off a win in his penultimate regular season outing, improving to (6-1) in 12 second-half starts with a victory against the New York Mets. He’s put up a 3.39 ERA, a 3.50 FIP, 27 walks (3.52 BB/9), 90 Ks (11.74 K/9) and a .209/.291/.382 line against in 69 innings since the All-Star Break.

Tonight’s start was his last tune-up before the start of the NLDS with the Chicago Cubs next week, so the 2016 NL Cy Young winner finishes the regular season with a 2.51 ERA, a 2.89 FIP, 55 walks (2.47 BB/9), and 268 Ks (12.02 K/9) in 200 ²⁄₃ IP on the season.

We’ll update with any information as soon as it’s available, but there likely won’t be any word until Dusty Baker meets with reporters following tonight’s game...