WASHINGTON -- The Washington Nationals are certainly thankful they have Max Scherzer, who will start on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies.Starter Stephen Strasburg was pulled after 42 pitches on Wednesday and has a flexor mass strain.Another right-handed starter, Joe Ross, who made his big league debut in June, 2015, has been on the disabled list since July.If the Nationals make the playoffs Scherzer will certainly pitch the first game and the Nationals will most likely need to ride him a long way in October, especially if Strasburg does not return.You dont have to be big. You have to be flexible, Washington manager Dusty Baker said of Scherzer. Some guys are just blessed with that.Baker pointed to Nolan Ryan, who pitched into his 40s and had a good work ethic -- just like Scherzer.Nolan Ryan worked his butt off, Ryan said.The same can be said of Scherzer, who was signed by the Nationals prior to the 2015 season.His legs are good and his mind is strong, said Baker, in his first year with the Nationals.Baker has asked Scherzer to let rookie pitcher Lucas Giolito follow him around and pick his brain before games.Some of the Phillies have had little success against Scherzer, who threw two no-hitters last season.Ryan Howard is hitting .100 in 20 at-bats against Scherzer although Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said it is unlikely Howard starts Saturday.Maikel Franco (wrist), who did not start for the third day in a row Friday, is hitting .067 in 15 trips to the plate against Scherzer while Freddy Galvis is hitting .182 in 25 at-bats.Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said after Fridays game that he hopes Franco can play Saturday.Cesar Hernandez is hitting .238 in 21 at-bats against Scherzer, a native of St. Louis who won a Cy Young Award with the Detroit Tigers.The Phillies starter on Saturday will be Jerad Eickoff, who was one of three pitchers the Texas Rangers traded to Philadelphia in July, 2015 for veteran lefty Cole Hamels.Eickoff is 10-13, 3.86 this year in 28 starts and has 138 strikeouts while giving up 166 hits in 167 2/3 innings. He has won five of his last six starts.He is 0-1, 4.50 against the Nationals this year and 1-1, 3.46 in two starts in his career against Washington.Eickoff has held Daniel Murphy in check with one hit in nine at-bats. Bryce Harper has just one hit in six trips against him.He won his 10th game on Monday as he beat the Miami Marlins 6-2.Anytime you get double-digit wins, its a huge testament to what we as pitchers try to do, Eickhoff told reporters after that game. Cheap Jerseys . LOUIS -- St. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. https://www.cheapnfljerseysjustwholesale.com/cheap-mlb-jerseys . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Cheap College Jerseys . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. TORONTO -- By winning on the second night of a back-to-back, the Sacramento Kings avoided an empty road trip.DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Rudy Gay scored 23 against his former team and Sacramento beat the Toronto Raptors 96-91 on Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 19,800 at Air Canada Centre.It was much needed, a confidence boost, a momentum boost, Cousins said.Its a good feeling. It would have been a pretty long flight if we went home off this road trip with no wins, so it makes it a bit better. But were still finding ourselves. Weve still got a lot of growing to do.Gay had nine points in the fourth quarter as the Kings (3-5) snapped a four-game losing streak by winning the finale of their five-game trip.Matt Barnes had eight points and 10 rebounds, and Kosta Koufos added 13 points and six rebounds.DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (4-2) with 23 points, the first time this season hes been held under 30. Kyle Lowry added 15 points and 11 assists for Toronto, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.We were out of it the entire night offensively. We were off rhythm, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. They did a good job of sending bodies off of our young guys and onto DeMar, Kyle and our shooters.With center Jonas Valanciunas sidelined by a sore knee, rookie Jakob Poeltl started for Toronto. But he was in foul trouble all night and fouled out with six points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.Valanciunas injury and Poeltls foul trouble meant Lucas Nogueira, seeing his first action of the season, had to pick up the slack. He had seven points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.The teams swapped leads throughout the fourth quarter until Cousins layup with 2:55 to go gave the Kings a 90-88 advantage. They led the rest of the way.I think it shows what were capable of, Barnes said. Out of all the teams (on the road trip), we beat the best team after a back-to-back.We just need to stick together, start gelling and it wont be a problem.After DeRozan missed a pair of free throws that would have tied it, Gay hit two from the stripe at the other end to give the Kings a 92-88 lead with 1:54 remaining.We got a lot of great shots at the end of the game that we missed, DeRozan said. I missed two free throws. Norm (Powell) had two wide-open 3s that would have given us big momentum.It was one of those games that we are going to be able to look at and learn a lot going forward.Lowrys steal and threee-point play put Toronto up 73-72 with 9:34 to go.dddddddddddd But 3-pointers by Gay on consecutive trips staked the Kings to an 87-83 lead with 4:41 left.Lowrys 3 and DeRozans basket gave Toronto a short-lived 88-87 lead.It was a hard-fought game, Kings coach Dave Joerger said. Im really proud of our guys getting the win on a back-to-back, our third back-to-back of the season already.We played a team that was waiting for us and that is a very, very good team that I have a lot of respect for. Its been a tough road trip and its good to finish with a win.Sacramento led 68-66 going into the fourth quarter. The Kings, who trailed by 11 midway through the third, closed the period on a 7-2 run to take their first lead since early in the first.The Raptors led 50-44 at halftime.TIP-INSKings: Cousins had his 247th double-double, most in Sacramento history. ... The Kings dominated in the paint, outscoring the Raptors 52-30. ... Sacramento has defeated Toronto in three straight games.Raptors: Valanciunas was a late scratch. He bruised his left knee last week and it swelled up before the game. He is day to day. ... Toronto rookie Pascal Siakim set season highs for minutes (24) and points (10). ... The Raptors scored 13 points off 11 Kings turnovers, while Sacramento had two points off six Toronto turnovers.KINGS OF THE ROADSacramento has played an NBA-high six road games, going 2-4.SHUTDOWN DThe Kings limited the Raptors to a season-low 35.7 percent shooting from the field (30 for 84), holding them without a field goal over the final 6:42 of the third quarter.TWO-YEAR SELLOUT STREAKThe Air Canada Centre was sold out for the 96th straight game, including playoffs, dating to Nov. 11, 2014. Thats the longest streak in franchise history.HE SAID ITThey played as well as you can against a guy like DeMarcus Cousins. Hes one of the hardest matchups that you can have in the NBA. -- Casey on the play of rookies Poeltl and Siakam, who filled in for Valanciunas.UP NEXTKings: Host the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, starting a stretch with seven of their next eight games at the new Golden 1 Center. Sacramento is 1-1 at home this season.Raptors: Visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday for their second road game of the season. Toronto went a franchise-best 24-17 on the road last season. ' ' '
