Scherzers settling in after birth of third child

WASHINGTON -- The tale of Max Scherzer throwing a complete game before dashing to the hospital for the birth of his third child has become part of the lore of his already illustrious career.

Four days after Scherzer orchestrated a one-run masterpiece against the Marlins in only two hours and 37 minutes, he recounted an afternoon that appeared hectic but was all part of a meticulously mapped-out plan.

“It was pretty crazy,” Scherzer said on Thursday. “I kind of like it that way. Erica did, too. She likes it like that. She didn’t mind going to the hospital while everything was going on. It was even better to come back with a win.”

When Scherzer was named the Nationals’ Opening Day starter, his wife, Erica, began putting the wheels in motion to select a date for a C-section the following month. Ideally, it would coincide with one of Scherzer’s starts to have built-in off-days after that. He looked ahead in the schedule with manager Dave Martinez and determined a 5:30 p.m. appointment on May 2, following a 1:05 p.m. ET start vs. Miami, would do the job.

“We saw the weather coming into it that it was going to be good, so there really wasn’t any concern,” Scherzer said. “I wasn’t underneath any pressure. I just knew that once the game was over, all right, it's time to go directly to the hospital so there wasn’t too much of a panic.”

Erica gave birth to Derek Alexander at 5:38 p.m. -- just about four-and-a-half hours after first pitch.

“When you get to the hospital, it’s all smiles from there,” Scherzer said. “Everything went as planned. The doctors did great, and my wife did even better.”

Scherzer has been reporting to Nationals Park to get in throwing ahead of his next start against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. But he’s been kept busy at home on dad duty for his two daughters as Erica, who he refers to as “the rock of the household” and “my better half,” recovers.

“There’s a lot of chasing around, let’s say that,” he said.

Like he had the Marlins chasing on Sunday.

Righties recovering
Injured right-handers Stephen Strasburg (right shoulder inflammation) and Wander Suero (left oblique strain) participated in a simulated game at Nationals Park on Thursday.

Strasburg threw 35 pitches over two innings. The Nats are looking for him to throw another sim game next Monday or Tuesday.

“He threw the ball well and he said he felt good,” Martinez said. “So now it’s about building him up. But we’re going to take it slow, and we’re going to make sure that he’s completely ready.”

Suero tossed 22 pitches, and he could pitch for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings this weekend.