WASHINGTON — Just two hours after Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer delivered a complete game in a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday, he immediately left Nats Park to help his wife, Erica Scherzer, deliver their third child.
Erica posted pictures of their new addition to the family on Twitter Monday morning. Derek Alexander Scherzer was born May 2 at 5:38 p.m., weighing 8 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 20 inches long.
Before Scherzer left Nationals Park to be with his wife, approximately 8,500 fans were chanting "Let's go Max, let's go Max" as Mad Max completed his 12th career complete game.
“After the game, we talked a little bit and he was like, ‘I’m having the baby tonight, might as well pitch like that,’” catcher Yan Gomes said.
Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer in the third inning providing Scherzer with all the run support also offered his fellow dad congratulations.
"For him to go a complete game and pitch the way that he did, then go over and have a baby with his wife, that's a pretty cool day," Zimmerman said.
Scherzer now has eight complete games with zero walks since 2015 -- two more than anyone else in MLB in that span.
"He finds these new motivations," Gome said. "During the broken nose thing, he found a new motivation for that and came out and dealt."
The win was the fourth in a row for the Nationals, raising the team record to 12-12, good enough for first place in the jumbled NL East division.