Max Scherzer Experiences Nightmare Inning in 2nd Mets Spring Start

Not the outing he would've hoped for.

After setting down the first six Washington Nationals batters he faced across two scoreless innings, the wheels came off for Mets pitcher Max Scherzer in his second start of spring training.

In the top of the third inning, Scherzer was called for a balk after attempting to quick-pitch Victor Robles, who called timeout.

"He calls time, I come set, I get the green light," Scherzer told reporters. "I thought that was a clean pitch. He said no. We gotta figure out where the limit is."

Robles then reached on a fielding error by shortstop Luis Guillorme.

At this point, Scherzer's troubles were just beginning. Although he seemingly induced a run-scoring double play, the umpire called it off due to a pitch clock violation, as Scherzer failed to start his motion before the clock struck zero.

CJ Abrams drove in the first run of the inning on a run-scoring groundout and Alex Call added another run on an RBI single. With the Nationals leading 2-0, Luis Garcia took Scherzer deep for a two-run home run to make it 4-0.

Joey Meneses reached on another error from Guillorme and Jeimer Candelario stroked a double to setup second and third with two outs. Scherzer then allowed an RBI infield single to Stone Garrett, which would be the final batter he faced.

Right-hander David Griffin replaced Scherzer and allowed three more runs, with two of them being charged to the Mets' ace.

Following two perfect innings, Scherzer allowed five runs in one frame and was charged with seven total on the day. The good news is that they were all unearned runs. Regardless, it was a nightmare inning for Scherzer who had a balk, pitch clock violation, multiple errors behind him, a home run surrendered and several hits allowed.

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